Jack O’Connor, 75, a retired West Roxbury health care professional, observed the skewed demographics while waiting the obligatory 15 minutes after his first dose.
‘I would say there were 40 people at that time when I was there. Maybe there were five black people, O’Connor said.
The clinic in the Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College was due to start injecting on Monday – the first day in which residents aged 75 and older are eligible for doses below Phase 2 of the state’s vaccination timeline – but these plans were rejected. before the blizzard. The Boston Public Health Commission operates the site with 40 staff members until the state takes over at the end of the month. The commission plans 1,100 appointments a week – about 220 a day, including Tuesday.
According to the state’s website, the vaccination program in Massachusetts is intended for people who live, work, or study in the state.
The vaccination clinic is open to all eligible populations across the country, but Marty Martinez, head of health and human services in Boston, said the city had ‘absolute’ racial equality in mind when he named the center. preferred a mass injection site.
“This is the core of the city’s COVID response since we tackled it,” he said. “We wanted a website in a community of color.”
But Martinez was not surprised to hear that the majority of people were vaccinated on the premises on Tuesday.
“There is no doubt that the vast majority of people vaccinated throughout the state are currently white,” he added. “It’s still true – even if the place is in Roxbury.”
The sequence of white faces going in and out of the center reflects data across the country showing that white people are being vaccinated at a much higher rate than residents of Black, Latino and Asia. According to the state Department of Public Health, as of Jan. 26, 43 percent of people who have been fully vaccinated are white. Meanwhile, just under 4 percent of those who received both doses are Asians, more than three percent Latin and less than three percent black.
(The state’s vaccination data on race and ethnicity are incomplete due to inconsistent reporting by vaccinators, which is why these figures are not 100 percent. For 28 percent of recipients who are fully vaccinated, their race and ethnicity are labeled “other” or “unknown” while about 20 percent are categorized as “multiracial.”
To curb the trend, the city has set aside about 15 percent of its appointments for people registering for a vaccine through community organizations, such as the Black Boston COVID-19 coalition and the Greater Boston Latino Network.
Eligible seniors can also call 311, the city’s helpline. They will be referred to someone from the Age Strong Commission, who will make an appointment for them by telephone. As for the walk-in, Martinez said: ‘We have to send them away. . . . We do not have extra doses on site. ”
All the publicly available appointments at the Lewis Center were snatched up within two hours of being made available, and the slots that were available to community organizations were also full, according to Martinez. The center is fully booked for the rest of the week and starts Thursday morning with appointments for next week.
Caitlin McLaughlin, a spokeswoman for the commission, said city health officials are trying to get the word out about the Lewis Center through social media, traditional media and community partners, such as churches and local health centers.
Meanwhile, the city is planning for smaller vaccination centers in different neighborhoods, Martinez said, but when and where the sites will open will depend on the availability of doses from the state. By the time Massachusetts begins the third part of Phase 2 of the vaccination plan, when essential workers are eligible, Martinez said, “a number of the clinics” will be open.
The rollout in Massachusetts has been criticized for the slow pace of vaccinations. Activists have also expressed concern about access to vaccines in colored communities of color. Representative Ayanna Pressley last week sent a letter to Governor Charlie Baker urging him to prioritize residents of Black and Latino for vaccination.
“I am writing to urge you to act urgently and to put the health and safety of our black and colored communities at the center of the Commonwealth’s COVID-19 response and ongoing vaccination plans,” the letter reads.
Harvey Wartosky, a financial planner, and his wife, Joëlle, both 78 and white, live in Beacon Hill. They arrived early for their vaccinations at the Lewis Center with manila envelopes in hand, with copies of their Medicare cards and prints confirming their appointments.
“Booking an appointment online was a complete nightmare,” Wartosky said. One of the young employees at his firm managed to find open appointments for him and his wife in the Lewis Center moments before all the slots were taken. The state’s priority process also shocked Wartosky, who saw friends being vaccinated in other states while he and other seniors in Massachusetts awaited their turn. other groups, such as prisoners.
“I wrote a letter to the governor,” Wartosky said. ‘I found it incomprehensible [a prisoner] which costs me $ 25,000 a year and takes away society will take precedence over me, making a contribution to society. ‘
A little over an hour later, the Wartoskys were out the door with round stickers on their chests proudly advertising their ranks under the graft, the country’s most exclusive new club.
Deanna Pan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @DDpan. Felice J. Freyer can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on Twitter @felicejfreyer.