SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Teresa Parada is exactly the kind of person in California who said she wanted to get vaccinated: she’s a retired factory worker who speaks little English and lives in a hard-hit part of Los Angeles County.
But the 70-year-old Parada waited weeks while others of her age flocked to Dodger Stadium or had the coronavirus shot through large hospital networks. The place where she normally gets medical care, AltaMed, is now getting just enough stock to vaccinate her later this month.
Parada said TV reports showed people standing in line to get shots, but “I only see vaccines going to Anglos.”
‘It’s rare that I see a Latino there for the vaccine. When is it our turn? She said.
Government Gavin Newsom has repeatedly called his “North Star” because he has vaccinated a diverse state of nearly 40 million. He worked with the federal government to set up mass vaccination sites in working-class neighborhoods in Oakland and Los Angeles. And that’s a big part of why he instructed insurer Blue Shield to centralize California’s patchwork vaccine system and asked hospital chain Kaiser Permanente to help.
Yet officials at community health centers that serve as the safety net for the poor in the U.S., on health equity, say they are not receiving enough doses for their patients – the residents who are very dangerous should be vaccinated by the state.
In California, nearly 1,400 such centers provide free or inexpensive services to about 7 million people, many in communities with a higher concentration of low-income families and few providers taking Medicaid, known in California as Medi-Cal. Many of their clients speak a language other than English, work long hours, have no transportation and would like to go to the professional medical care they trust.
Dr. Efrain Talamantes, chief operating officer of AltaMed Health Services, said it was discouraging to see how the initial doses went elsewhere while his patients continued to test positive for the virus.
“Every time there is a clear difference in a limited resource,” he said.
Most states resort to ways to distribute limited vaccine supplies, leading to a mix of methods in the absence of a federal plan. Tennessee is one of the states that distributes doses based on provincial populations, while California distributes them through eligible groups, including teachers and farm workers. The free-for-all has enabled people with the most resources to record rare vaccinations.
Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, said it seems obvious that the best strategy to get vaccinations in severely affected communities is to turn to the sites where residents already get. care. But big box administrators tend to view community health centers as less efficient because of their smaller size, she said.
‘We are not very imaginative about the way we can deliver the vaccine effectively. Our only creative solution is to build mass vaccination sites and perhaps give people preferential access to the sites, ‘she said.
As California has increased vaccination efforts through mobile and pop-up clinics at churches, workshops, and schools, state data shows how relatively few shots went to Latinos and Blacks compared to their population.
African Americans received 3% of the vaccine dose while making up 6% of the state. Latinos, who make up 39% of the state, received 17% of the doses.
Blue Shield officials say they plan to keep health centers already administering vaccines open, but clinics are worried they will not receive enough doses.
State vaccine spokesman Darrel Ng said the governor’s fair vaccination plan included setting aside vaccines for “disproportionately affected communities and that providers serving these communities are part of the network.” He said in a statement that this includes sending mobile clinics to places like black churches.
Andie Martinez Patterson, vice president of government affairs at the California Primary Care Association, said while large-scale health systems can vaccinate people quickly, they are unlikely to reach the targeted residents.
Community health centers have worked hard to persuade their patients to take the chance, said Alexander Rossel, CEO of Families Together of Orange County, saying his center vaccinated 95 percent of its patients aged 65 and older.
Health centers have seen with dismay how vaccine for health workers initially went to larger hospitals in December. After that, they watched as more affluent, internet-savvy English speakers could navigate the web portals over time and drive long distances for appointments that flowed to vaccination arenas.
When Orange County began opening large vaccination sites in mid-January, community health centers also demanded doses, said Isabel Becerra, chief executive of the Orange County Community Health Centers Coalition.
“We did not transport. We do not speak English. We do not understand the technology you are asking us to register and align. So can we vaccinate the 65 and older population in the comfort of their own facilities? she said.
Jodie Wingo, interim president of the Community Health Association for Riverside and San Bernardino Provinces, said member clinics were expanding to vaccinate more of their 500,000 patients. But now they are only receiving a few dozen doses at a time.
‘Everyone works towards equity, but it does not seem fair. Not at all, ”she said.
AltaMed, in Los Angeles and Orange, recently started receiving 3,000 doses a week from the two provinces. The offer should enable customers like Parada, who is originally from Mexico, to receive her vaccine this month.
AltaMed will send a vehicle to take her to a clinic for the shot that will protect her when she goes to buy double-masked to the family.
‘I’m the one who has to go out. I have to protect myself, ”she said.