Covid-19 was a largely preventable disease when omicron arrived, health experts said. And yet in the past three months, more than 150,000 people in the United States have died of it, the vast majority of them from underserved pockets of society.

In January, Black U.S. residents were hospitalized for covid-19 at a rate higher than any other race or ethnicity at any point in the pandemic, according to CDC data. Southern California recorded a covid-19 death rate triple that of the Bay Area due to lagging vaccination rates, the Los Angeles Times reported. In D.C. and surrounding states — one of the most vaccinated regions in the nation — 7,100 people have lost their lives since Christmas.

While data from the surge is still being compiled, analysis conducted by The Washington Post found that rural communities in Virginia suffered a mortality rate double that of urban communities. In Maryland, poor families of color bore the brunt of omicron’s toll. And in the District, Black residents account for 84 percent of covid-19 fatalities since the start of the year, despite making up less than half the population.