America’s Largest Cities Have Racial Inequalities in Vaccine Distribution

And as the vaccine is rolled out across the country, these communities are being vaccinated at lower prices than white Americans.

These inequalities are evident in some of the country’s largest metro areas, where the demand for vaccines is much higher in supply. Although experts have expressed concern about vaccine vaccination among black and Hispanic adults, the differences in vaccination rates also indicate that appointments are not sufficiently accessible to groups who are not in service.

“As we consider fairness in vaccinations, one important set of factors will be to ensure that all people have access to vaccines, regardless of their circumstances,” said Samantha Artiga, Director of Racial Equality and Health Policy at Kaiser Family Foundation. said. .

Artiga said the increased demand could lead to a ‘first come, first serve’ system, which could create an environment where those who have access to the internet and a vehicle are more likely to sign up for a vaccine .

A CNN analysis of five of the largest metro areas in the US shows that while each is experiencing challenges specific to the city, all are experiencing supply shortages, difficult reporting processes and excessively low vaccination rates among the groups worst affected by the pandemic .

In Houston, distribution inequalities in majority Spanish areas

The Covid-19 pandemic has affected the Spanish residents of Harris County excessively, but data released by Texas shows that the vaccine is lagging behind the Spanish population.

In Harris County, 44% of residents are Spanish, but are responsible for 60% of the new Covid-19 infections during the first week of February.

The difference also exists in the vaccination rates – only 19% of the vaccines in the province were administered to Spanish residents, while 43% went to White residents.

Only a small percentage of the vaccine providers in the country are in Spanish postal codes with majority. There are fewer providers in rural areas leading to Texans driving long distances to get a vaccine. Witter, richer areas in the province have a higher concentration of supplier locations.

The state recently announced it will roll out several Covid-19 vaccination centers, including six in Harris County. Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner at a news conference on Saturday criticized the lack of distribution of doses to smaller health clinics in the country, many of which are located in under-vaccinated areas and which can be more easily accessible by public transportation.

“Mass distribution sites are good for numbers, but when it comes to the people who are affected excessively, it is not good for equity,” he said. City and state officials have since asked the government, Greg Abbot, to provide more vaccinations to smaller health clinics and pharmacies.

An unequal number of White residents vaccinated in Chicago

Fair distribution of vaccines in Chicago was an early source of concern among health officials, who were concerned that the city’s pharmacy deserts could exacerbate the divergent consequences.

Spanish residents make up the majority of Covid-19 cases in the city – 35%. And 38% of those who died from the disease are black.

Distribution areas are aggregated in the predominantly white areas of the city and are thinner in the south and west sides of the city, where most residents are black or Hispanic. Despite the higher number of Covid-19 infections for black and Hispanic Chicago residents, they collectively received 38% of the vaccine doses, while White residents received nearly half. The city’s population is 29% Spanish, 30% black and 33% white.

Chicago is also one of the few cities that discloses vaccination data by zip code, showing that far fewer residents have received a dose of vaccine on the south and west sides of the city than in areas that are predominantly white.

Their communities are abandoned by pharmacies. Lawyers fear it could lead to unfair access to vaccines

These differences have been evident since the first phase of implementation, which focused on health workers, and have become more apparent as the vaccine has been made available to other essential workers and those over 65 years of age. Scarce doses and appointments have caused confusion, an influx of scams and led one doctor in Chicago to compare the distribution process of vaccinations to ‘playing the Hunger Games’.

Lack of data in Atlanta creates challenges for accountability

The Georgia Department of Public Health has not published provincial demographic data for cases or vaccinations. Across the country, however, black residents make up 25% of confirmed cases, while they make up 33% of the population. There are fewer vaccination sites in most non-white areas in DeKalb and Fulton counties than in the majority white areas, and it is difficult to make appointments.

Atlanta, which is 51% black, was identified as a particular area over which vaccines are accessed, in a study by the University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy, which looked at areas in the country where black residents were more likely than white residents to live more less than a mile from the nearest vaccine provider.

But a lack of available data makes it difficult to identify and address inequalities.

“Data restrictions … limit the extent to which we can get a complete picture of fair vaccination,” Artiga said. “The data is the key to understanding where there are gaps, and to making an effort to address the gaps.”

Availability Confusion in Los Angeles

Los Angeles County, the first U.S. state to report more than 1 million Covid-19 cases, released its first set of demographic vaccine data on Monday. The province entered a new phase of its vaccination program on January 20, enabling 65 and older to sign up for a shot.

Although most of the province’s vaccination areas in the majority are non-white, officials said that only 7% of black elderly and 14% of Spanish elderly people received a first dose of the vaccine, despite the excessive rates at which these communities have been affected. the pandemic.

Vaccination rates among other groups of the elderly are higher – 17% of whites, 18% of Asian Americans and 29% of Hawaii / Pacific natives received a first dose of the vaccine.

Barbara Ferrer, director of the province’s public health department, said in an information session on Monday that she was “concerned” about the data and that there was an urgent need for better outreach.

“This early data shows us that we need to make it much easier for residents and workers of Native Americans, Blacks and Latinx to be vaccinated in their communities by providers they trust,” she said.

The province’s vaccination efforts are hampered by confusing messages and an inconsistent amount of doses given to the country each week, making it difficult to administer the two-dose regimen requiring current vaccinations.

Public health officials have announced that provincial-controlled sites will primarily administer second doses this week, as they have a shortage of supplies, which leaves many confused as to whether the first doses were available in urban locations. The merger of the messages left the vaccination site at Dodger Stadium on Tuesday with thousands of unused first-dose appointments available to seniors. But the next day, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti said city websites would be temporarily closed at the end of the week due to a shortage of doses.

New York has fewer vaccine sites in the hardest hit areas

The city of New York has been severely criticized for the introduction of vaccines, which have declared health care activists and advocates ineffective and unfair.

The city has tried to increase the speed of vaccinations, including by opening a large hub in Yankee Stadium, but some of the areas hardest hit still have the fewest centers for vaccine distribution. Sites in these neighborhoods are faced with the dilemma for whom to vaccinate. A site in the majority-Spanish Washington Heights, which has the most infections in Manhattan, was criticized last week for vaccinating a large number of white people who came to the clinic from other neighborhoods.

A vaccination room intended to serve a hard-hit Latino neighborhood in New York has rather served more whites from other areas

Staten Island and Queens, one of the hardest hit provinces, have 11 and 28 sites, respectively. Even in areas where a website is available, residents have to navigate through a complicated sign-up process that requires Wi-Fi access, email and often good luck.

A path to equitable access

As state and local governments receive more doses of the vaccine, health officials and activists are sounding the alarm about the need for better planning and outreach in vulnerable communities.

Monica Spoch-Spana, a senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Safety, said that while jurisdictions are waiting for more doses to arrive, they can plan to achieve the best in underserved areas. Spoch-Spana and other Johns Hopkins researchers on Tuesday published a report showing the ways in which local and state governments can work with color communities to ensure greater equity in the distribution of vaccines.

“There may be a shortage of products,” she said, “but there is no shortage of opportunities to make contact with organizations that have roots in these communities to jointly develop a delivery system for these parts of society is not going to work. ”

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