Elderly black, Latino, and Native Americans in Los Angeles County receive COVID-19 at a lower dose than white, Asian American, and Pacific Islanders, according to data released Monday.
The findings have raised new concerns about inequality in the alarming explosion of vaccines for 65-year-olds and older people and have added pressure on provincial leaders to do a better job of getting color-grafted communities vaccinated.
Only 7% of black residents aged 65 and older received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccine, the lowest percentage of any racial and ethnic group and less than half the similar figure for white senior residents. About 9% of Native American seniors and 14% of Latino seniors received at least one dose.
In contrast, 17% of white senior residents received at least one shot, as did 18% of Asian Americans and 29% of Native Hawaiian / Pacific residents.
Elderly people in LA County who were not part of the former priority groups of health care workers and residents of long-term care facilities were eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines from January 20th.
More than 1 million doses have been administered in LA County.
“We are concerned about the disproportion we see in who received the vaccine,” said LA County Director of Public Health Barbara Ferrer, who was particularly concerned about the “striking inadequacy of the vaccine to date.” for black residents.
“This new data shows us that we need to make it much easier to get residents and workers of Native Americans, Blacks and Latinos vaccinated in their communities by providers they trust,” Ferrer said Monday. ‘This is a top priority for the Department of Public Health. And we continue to work with our community partners to ensure that not only are we all vaccinated quickly, but that we pay attention to easier access to neighborhoods and better access to accurate information about the vaccines. ”
Ferrer said the province is committed to increasing the number of vaccination sites in the areas hardest hit. In total, there are 365 sites offering vaccinations this week. Ten sites have been added for the Eastside and South LA, bringing the total number of sites in these areas to 14 and 35, respectively.
Ferrer said the province is also arranging mobile teams to start vaccinating next week for residents of senior housing and for senior centers in the areas hardest hit.
‘We will also have community health workers in the communities that are greatly affected, who sometimes go block-by-block to provide information to residents on how to be vaccinated, help them to report and solve myths and misconceptions. dispose of information about the vaccine. , ”Ferrer said.
The difference in those who receive vaccinations is not limited to LA County. In Northern California’s most populous county, Santa Clara, 18% of Latino and Black seniors received at least one dose, while 28% of white seniors and 40% of Asian American seniors received at least one dose.
Hilda Solis, supervisor of LA County, noted that racial and ethnic groups that suffered the most in terms of coronavirus cases, hospitalizations, and deaths received fewer vaccinations.
“It is completely unacceptable. And we will share some of the changes in our effects of vaccines in the coming days to ensure that it is truly fair, ‘she said. “Honestly, I am disappointed and I call on all of us, our departments and medical providers to fulfill their responsibility to ensure that the vaccine gets those who need it most.”
While LA, as elsewhere in the state, is challenged by the simple fact that not nearly enough vaccine is flowing in, Solis said the country is trying to sharpen its efforts to ensure that the available doses are distributed fairly.
One of the strategies is to deploy mobile vaccination teams to housing by seniors or by the government, as well as homeless campsites “and other places where people cannot easily access transportation”, to ensure that Angelenos are eligible, according to Solis. .
“These are some of the first mobile units deployed in LA County, and we think this model will help address the issue of mobility and access once we expand these teams,” she said.
While the province runs several large-scale websites that can vaccinate thousands of people a day, officials want to establish footholds everywhere so people can get shots closer to home.
“The goal is indeed to eventually have vaccination sites everywhere, from schools to local community centers to reliable service providers in people’s neighborhoods,” Solis said. “The supply remains our biggest challenge, and the logistics of cold storage and the short lifespan of these vaccines are also obstacles in our mass vaccination campaign.”
Officials are hopeful that their efforts to boost equity will be boosted by the opening of a federal mass vaccination center in Cal State LA, which, according to Solis, would be underway by Feb. 16.
“Equity is not just a buzzword,” Solis said. “It has to be at the heart of the way we make policies and deliver our services.”
Solis said in a statement issued later Monday afternoon that another tactic the country could use is to discuss a vaccine appointment to ensure those who need it most get a dose sooner rather than later. The information and instructions on how to make a vaccine apparently did not reach those who needed it most. ”
To address some of the inequalities with which residents are being vaccinated, Solis will on Tuesday submit a motion to the Board of Supervisors asking it to divert bus services to provide direct access to the country’s major vaccination sites.
“Until the COVID-19 vaccine is available in every environment, there are significant inequalities such as access to transportation that need to be addressed,” Solis said in the motion.
Supervisor Holly Mitchell, whose district includes a large percentage of LA’s black residents, said the province had significantly less vaccine than it needed, and the delivery of the small amount of doses was further hampered by the state’s tiger system. .
“There’s nothing simple about this damn virus,” Mitchell said in an interview.
Mitchell said she and other black leaders stressed the importance of being vaccinated to Blacks residents, saying: “If you get on the list, regardless of your category, please vaccinate,” to really try to beyond the fear that many Blacks people honestly have the health care system. ”
The six new vaccination sites at local clinics and Rite-Aid sites in South LA are an effort to bring vaccines where people live.
“The importance of being in the community in the community is that we ask them to come to an existing, trusted community source,” she said.
But even if the province builds more sites, it cannot make significant progress without more supply.
“We need to get the product in order to do that,” Mitchell said. “We have set up the facilities to do that. We have made sure that areas that do not naturally have pharmacies have other institutions that can stand up to provide the vaccine. Okay, we’ve done it all – now we need the vaccine. ”
Councilor Marqueece Harris-Dawson, representing South LA, criticized the spread of vaccinations. At a recent city council meeting, he expressed concern about the initial government strategy to divert vaccines to major sites such as the Inglewood Forum. He said his voters “do not go anywhere with a large crowd of people” and criticized the demographic composition of those who receive shots on the premises as not representative of the neighboring community.
Harris-Dawson said large vaccination sites exacerbate some of the inequalities that the pandemic has revealed. He suggested that vaccinations be sent to healthcare providers who have a long history of trusting with neighboring residents. Two weeks ago, Harris-Dawson requested at a city council meeting that city officials be ready to deploy mobile units.
Last week, LA Mayor Eric Garcetti said the city has drawn up a program to “bring mobile vaccination clinics to communities that have COVID-19 highest disease and mortality rates.” He said the program began in the Harris-Dawson district, which “delivers vaccines directly to the community to seniors who need to get this vaccine but cannot necessarily walk or drive to a vaccination center.”
Residents of Latino and Black have been hit extremely hard by the pandemic. In LA County, Latinos see 40 deaths per 100,000 residents per day; for black residents the number is 20 and for residents of Asia-America 17. There are 14 deaths per 100,000 white residents per day.
Councilman Kevin de León said the data was not shocking because people of color faced repeated obstacles to being vaccinated. He said officials should focus on communities with the highest death rates.
It is a “challenging reason” that residents living in areas with low infection rates can go to those with high doses and be vaccinated, De León said. ‘If a house in the area is on fire, you rush to put water on that house. Not on the other houses that do not burn. And that’s how they do it. ”