Emerging socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19-related deaths during the second pandemic wave in Germany.

In the course of the second pandemic wave in late 2020, new infections with SARS-CoV-2 shifted from the most affluent to the most deprived regions of Germany. We investigated how this trend in infections played out for COVID-19 deaths by examining area-level socioeconomic disparities in COVID-19-related mortality during the second pandemic wave in Germany. The analysis was based on nationwide data on notified deaths, which were linked with an area-based index of socioeconomic deprivation. In the fall and winter of 2020/2021, COVID-19-related mortality increased faster among residents in Germany's more deprived districts. From late 2020 onwards, the mortality risk of men and women in the most deprived districts was 1.52 (95% CI 1.27-1.82) and 1.44 (95% CI 1.19-1.73) times higher than among those in the most affluent districts, net of age, urbanization, and population density. To promote health equity in the pandemic and beyond, deprived populations should receive increased attention in pandemic planning, infection control, and disease prevention.