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The Times podcast: The tragedy of Latinos and COVID-19

A clinic sign reads "Administration of Vaccine" in English and Spanish.
Medical staff walk to the area where the COVID-19 vaccine was being given to patients at Clinica Romero.
(Genaro Molina / Los Angeles Times)
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COVID-19 has been devastating for everyone, but in the United States, there’s one demographic hit particularly hard: Latinos. According to the California Department of Public Health, Latinos make up about 39% of the state’s population but nearly half of all cases and 45% of all deaths. A perfect storm of factors made Latinos especially vulnerable to the coronavirus: Multigenerational households. Crowded neighborhoods. Essential jobs that required us to show up in person. Vaccine hesitancy among too many.

Today, we hear about the devastation.

Host: Gustavo Arellano

Guests: L.A. Times Metro reporters Alejandra Reyes-Velarde and Brittny Mejia

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About The Times

“The Times” is made by columnist Gustavo Arellano, senior producers Denise Guerra, Shannon Lin and Kasia Broussalian and producers Melissa Kaplan, Ashlea Brown and Angel Carreras. Our engineer is Mario Diaz. Our editors are Lauren Raab and Kinsee Morlan. Our executive producers are Jazmín Aguilera and Shani O. Hilton. Our theme song was composed by Andrew Eapen.
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