Emergencies and Risks (COVID-19)

Early in the pandemic, Blacks accounted for 40 percent of all COVID-19 deaths. But efforts to address the gap led to health changes that lowered the rate to 14 percent — equal to their proportion of the state’s population.

A federal ordering website, due to open for business Wednesday, opened Tuesday, a day earlier than expected.

Testing too early after you’ve been exposed to COVID, or “panic testing,” will likely offer little more than a false sense of security. With holidays beckoning, this “gray zone” in testing could unwittingly spread infection.

Jon Campbell of Detroit was flipping burgers at 15. Now, the 52-year-old McDonald’s franchisee and father of three will use the lure of the Golden Arches to meet another goal — boosting vaccines in a neighborhood where rates are low and hesitation high.

A look at 2,700 neighborhoods reveals wide discrepancies by race, income level, education — but perhaps not political affiliation. The map comes as vaccination rates slow in Michigan.

Black residents are dying at greater rates once again in Michigan in part because they are getting vaccinated at lower rates.