Globally, Indigenous populations have fared poorly in relation to their non-Indigenous counterparts in previous pandemics hence it is important to assess how they are faring in the COVID-19 pandemic. Due to the vulnerability of Indigenous people to more severe outcomes of COVID-19 because of both historical and contemporary issues impacting overall health status, timely and accurate data should be urgently collated and reported. This study highlights major gaps in data collation and analysis of COVID-19 by Indigenous status. In countries where there appears to be good control of COVID-19, this has benefits for Indigenous peoples; conversely the same is true. Without available epidemiological data on Indigenous populations, it will also be difficult to justify vaccine prioritisation for these populations in some countries.

Mallard, Alistair, Maria Amalia Pesantes, Carol Zavaleta-Cortijo, and James Ward. An Urgent Call to Collect Data Related to COVID-19 and Indigenous Populations Globally. BMJ Global Health 6, no. 3 (2021): e004655. https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/3/e004655

© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021.

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Maria Amalia Pesantes is a professor of Anthropology at Dickinson College.

This published version is made available on Dickinson Scholar with the permission of the publisher. For more information on the published version, visit BMJ Journal's Website. https://gh.bmj.com/content/6/3/e004655