We are now looking at communities with a higher mortality rate and whether the neighborhoods are receiving the vaccine.
SEE ALSO: Residents in the Houston area ‘hurt’ in low-income, minority areas without vaccines
Our investigation found that a dozen zip codes east of downtown Houston have a higher mortality rate of 151 deaths per 100,000 residents, but the total vaccination rate for the communities is 4.5%.
We wanted to see where the vaccines go, and found 40% of Harris County’s zip codes where the mortality rate is not that high – with less than 150 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants – and yet a higher percentage of the population is vaccinated . The differences are the reason why doctors and clinics are advocating for leaders of the vaccination program to get the vaccines in the neighborhoods against massive vaccination sites.
“We need them here. We need people who are dying because of COVID, the Spanish people, the African Americans, people with low incomes and low resources are here in Harris Health. We need them here,” Glorimar Medina said. , the executive, said. vice president of Harris Health System’s Ambulatory Care Services, last month.
INTERACTIVE: Want to know which communities have a higher mortality rate but fewer people being vaccinated? Explore the map for details by zip code. On mobile device? Click here for a full screen experience.
Dr. Erica Villalobos, a physician at HOPE Clinic Aldine, said residents in her area sometimes do not have access to transportation, internet or other resources to sign up for a vaccine and get a dose.
“The risk that you still do not have access to the vaccine is still an increased risk of becoming infected with COVID and succumbing to the serious complications associated with COVID, including death,” she said.
In the 77039 zip code where her clinic is located, the mortality rate is 109.2 deaths per 100,000 residents and only 2.7% of the residents were vaccinated, according to an analysis of city data.
There are more than 28,000 residents living in the area, but only 600 vaccines have been allocated since the state began distributing vaccines nine weeks ago. HOPE Clinic Aldine has been approved by the state to provide the vaccine, but they have not yet received any doses.
“We all want what’s best for the community, and what’s best for the community right now is to be able to vaccinate,” Villalobos said.
Nationwide, 3,081 residents died from COVID-19. The city and province provide daily information on the number of deaths within each zip code.
Postcode vaccination data for Houston and Harris County is not available on the city or county’s website. The latest data we received on the number of residents vaccinated in each zip code was applicable on February 4, 2021.
The backlog in data presents some limitations to our analysis. As of this week, 351,391 Harris County residents have received at least one dose of the vaccine and 126,632 have been fully vaccinated.
We only received data on how many people were vaccinated by zip code for 67% of those vaccinated in Harris County.
The state said it would like agencies to gather better information about vaccination. For example, data on race and ethnicity for 40% of Texas residents who received a vaccine are unknown. This is slightly in Harris County, where race and ethnicity are unknown to only 28% of residents who have been vaccinated.
“[It] makes it difficult to know whether the entities are really reaching out in those communities, ‘said Dr. David Lakey, a member of the Texas Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel, said.
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