While California is preparing to offer COVID-19 vaccines to a new level of its citizens, the vaccination rates for black and Hispanic residents still lag behind those of whites.
Despite 6 percent of California’s population, African Americans have received only 3 percent of the nearly 11 million doses of vaccine administered so far in the state. Latinos, meanwhile, have received 17 percent of the doses given so far, although it makes up 39 percent of the state’s population.
By comparison, whites, who make up 72 percent of the population, have so far received 32 percent of the doses.
On March 3, Governor Gavin Newsom announced that California would discuss 40 percent of the available COVID-19 vaccines for residents living in disadvantaged areas in an effort to correct socio-economic and racial differences.
“We will never fight back this virus and reopen it safely without a purposeful approach to our most vulnerable communities,” Newsom said in a tweet last week.
Los Angeles County officials say the need to deliver vaccines in black and brown neighborhoods should be seen as a matter of life and death for communities hardest hit by the pandemic.
“We are not doing well enough to distribute the vaccine in a fair way,” said Dr. Paul Simon, chief scientific officer and director of the department of assessment, planning and quality, at the Department of Public Health in Los Angeles said. Yahoo News. ‘We know that the COVID pandemic has affected certain communities excessively, areas with the lowest incomes, where housing is more crowded, where people work in essential occupations where they are at risk of COVID. We have seen many, many, many more infections, and therefore these populations should definitely be prioritized for vaccination. ”
Details remain scarce about exactly how the plan to vaccinate underserved populations will be carried out.
“We want to include the vaccination rates in the tigers,” Newsom said last week, “and that will get people moving through the levels quickly.”
As of Wednesday, California continues to restrict vaccinations to residents 65 and older, those with serious health conditions, essential workers and residents of long-term care facilities. These restrictions, in addition to the limited vaccine supply, cause many Californians to scour the state to find a vaccine.
In Los Angeles, the hunt for the vaccine sometimes led to wealthy white residents waiting in line at pharmacies in low-income neighborhoods, which sparked outrage in the process.
“They sent these vaccines to this community, not to Beverly Hills,” South LA activist Veronica Sance told KTLA. “They took advantage of the situation. They have seized the opportunity that is here for our community, and that is what I am grieving about. ”
Barbara Ferrer, director of public health in LA County, highlighted the disturbing difference in vaccination rates during the COVID-19 briefing on March 1st. Data shows that their targeted communities, including areas such as South Los Angeles, East LA, Koreatown, Chinatown, Compton, Southeast LA and the eastern San Fernando Valley, fell far behind according to the rates officials hoped to see . As of March 4, for example, 5.4 percent of black residents, who make up 9 percent of the country, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
“I think this vaccination has shown as vividly as can be shown what the impact of privilege is,” Simon said. He added that the difference in vaccination rates was ‘significant’ and ‘incredibly frustrating’.
Simon also noted that systematic benefits for whites in California, such as reliable Internet access and transportation alternatives, make it easier for them to implement the vaccine.
“Through word of mouth, they can find opportunities to bend the rules and sneak in and get vaccinated,” Simon said.
A similar difference in vaccines has played across the country reflecting the rate at which black and Hispanic Americans are hospitalized and die due to COVID-19 compared to whites.
To address the problem in LA, Simon said the province provides transportation assistance to people who may not be able to get to a vaccination site, can create pop-up clinics and ensure that the province’s appointment systems and materials are in multiple languages. , to eliminate that barrier. In addition, the Los Angeles Fire Department has been deployed to reach communities where they live that are under service.
In an effort to boost vaccine confidence among those whose distrust of the American medical system has been built up by decades of neglect and abuse, Los Angeles County has also partnered with community organizations and churches to promote the benefits of vaccination, as well as to help set up appointments.
“We let the community organizations know exactly when appointments will open so that their clients can get an advantage in terms of an appointment,” Simon said.
As Newsom acknowledged, the effort to vaccinate black and Hispanic communities in California will greatly help determine how soon the pandemic will end. The governor said on Wednesday that the state hopes to vaccinate 4 million people a day by April.
If the state can continue to reach those at risk for COVID-19, the prediction Newsom made during Wednesday’s state of the nation address may indeed come true.
‘California is not going to crawl back from this pandemic. We will roar back, ”he said.