White Californians have so far received 32.7% of the first available doses of COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 16% for Latinos, 13% for Asians, 2.9% for black people and 0.3% for Indigenous people, according to a new state report that gives a snapshot of the distribution of vaccines.
California Department of Public Health’s new data breaks down vaccine recipients for the first time by age, race, gender and location. Due to the limited stock, health care workers, long-term residents and people aged 65 and older are the majority of those who received a first dose.
As of Sunday, 8,051,475 vaccine doses had been delivered to distribution plants across the country and 5,768,684 doses had been administered. More than 8 million additional doses were sent.
Elderly people top the list of those who received a first dose of the vaccine, at 54.7%; followed by people aged 18-49, at 28.7%; and ages 50-64, according to the report, at 16.6%. Women represent the majority of those who received the vaccine, at 58.5%, compared to men, at 41.1%, and those who either wanted to name gender or were identified as transgender or others, with 0.4%.
The state data is also divided according to provinces, with differences that differ from region to country.
In the new report, for example, the new report shows that Latinos received 23.2% of the available vaccine doses; whites, 21.9%; Asian Americans, 14.6%; Black people, 4.1%; and indigenous populations, 0.1%. For comparison: in San Diego, whites received 42.3% of the available vaccine; Latinos, 14.1%; Asians, 10.8%; Black people, 1.9%; and indigenous populations, 0.5%.
But some health officials and activists in Los Angeles County have argued that the vaccines are not being targeted effectively in communities hardest hit by the pandemic. Doses are rather to large vaccination centers, such as Dodger Stadium, or health care providers such as Kaiser.
They point out that the black, Latino and Asian populations make up a large part of the country’s essential workers and that many in the communities may not have access to health insurance, transport or computers needed to register for vaccinations and therefore remain behind. .
“The playing field is not level at the moment,” said Dr Don Garcia of Clinica Monsenor Romero in Boyle Heights, near Los Angeles.
The state data does not tell the whole story, he said. Although Latinos want to be vaccinated at better prices than others in LA County, it does matter who is treated in the community.
‘I’m sitting in it [23%], ”Garcia said. ‘I received the vaccine without despair … and my patients could not be vaccinated. This is the health inequality we are talking about. ”
His clinic recently received 100 vaccinations for its 12,000 patients, mostly Latino, many of whom do not have legal status and work in the service industry. Since March, the percentage of coronavirus-positive results has been constant among those tested in the clinic. That’s more than the average of the seven-day average positive test rate for LA County, which was 9.99% on Saturday.
The number of Latino residents in LA County who die from COVID-19 daily on average over a two-week period has skyrocketed: 40 deaths per 100,000 Latino residents. That is almost three times that of white residents, a section of the population that sees an average of 14 deaths per 100,000 people.
Most Latinos who die are older and in many cases among the large immigrant population in the region. In many cases, they may not be aware of their options, and this affects the larger community.
‘We’re talking about the abuelitas, tios and tias,Garcia said. “We’re talking about immigrants, the undocumented.”
In South LA, Dr. Jerry Abraham struggles with similar inequalities at the Kedren Community Health Center. The clinic managed to create a model within a few weeks to distribute the vaccine dose as fairly as possible.
‘If I look at the numbers,’ Abraham said, ‘you better believe that Kedren makes up a large part of the 2.8%’ of the vaccines given to black people.
The clinic started with 100 doses that it administered to healthcare providers in Kedren and elsewhere. It has since worked to remove barriers for the elderly, those who do not speak English and those who have not been transported by volunteers and interpreters helping patients register for the vaccine.
The clinic now receives 6,000 doses of vaccine weekly, but there are up to 2,000 people daily.
“We are in a literal arms race to find every dose that expires in the country,” Abraham said. “We never have enough vaccines.”
Both Garcia and Abraham say a key element for the equitable distribution of vaccines is the taking of vaccines to people in their homes and communities via fleet mobile vaccination units.
“If you have fire, bring the water to put out the fire,” Garcia said. “We’re on fire. We are the blue flame. ”
The worst wave of the pandemic that occurred in early January. At that time, the state recorded nearly 45,000 new cases of coronavirus daily.
The figure has since tumbled – according to data compiled by The Times, it is from Thursday to an average of 11,180 daily cases.
That’s still more than three times the average daily case load California saw before the boom. And there are now new and extremely contagious coronavirus variants all over the country.
On Saturday, Los Angeles County public health officials confirmed 3,254 new cases of coronavirus and 197 related deaths. To date, the Department of Public Health has identified 1,164,769 cases of coronavirus in LA County and a total of 18,984 deaths.
“Things are coming down, but they are still high,” said Dr. Muntu Davis, LA County Health Officer, said. “And so people need to understand that even though they are declining, the risk of someone getting caught with COVID-19 may not know that it is still very high.”
California adds 4 million to 6 million more people to be eligible list for the COVID-19 vaccine, but officials warn that being vaccinated will remain a frustrating process as long as chronic shortages remain in supply.
From 15 March, people aged 16 to 64 who are disabled or at high risk for coronavirus diseases and deaths will be eligible. This will bring the total number of California residents 17 million eligible up to 20 million.
But with such limited supplies, it is ultimately up to local providers to decide who gets the vaccine immediately, with medical workers, first responders, people 65 and older, teachers and essential workers all competing for shots.
Doctors Garcia and Abraham said they hope their communities will get the vaccine they need as soon as possible.
“We are used to being forgotten,” Abraham said. “We are used to doing a lot with very little. We do it every day, COVID or no COVID. ”
Staff writers Luke Money and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this story.