(New York) After being hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic in the United States, blacks and Hispanics in New York are now significantly behind whites when it comes to vaccinations.
Posted on February 6, 2021 at 7:00 a.m.
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Puddles of melting snow at street corners. Imposing snowdrifts along the sidewalks. Almost non-existent parking spaces. Two days after a major winter storm in New York, there was no shortage of obstacles around the Fort Washington armory, transformed since mid-January into a COVID-19 vaccination center.
But, according to Iris Lopez, those hurdles only added to those she had already had to overcome to register and get an appointment at the center in Washington Heights, in upper Manhattan.
PHOTO RICHARD HÉTU, SPECIAL COLLABORATION
Iris Lopez
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“It took me four days to hit the jackpot,” said the resident of this neighborhood, where nearly 70% of the population is of Hispanic origin. “I had to call a phone number and visit at least three websites before I found the right one. And it was not until last Friday that I had my appointment for February 2 at 7.15 am And it was canceled due to the snowstorm! ”
The 76-year-old retired nurse decided on Wednesday to try her luck. She went to the vaccination center to see if she could still receive her first dose of one of the vaccines given in the United States against COVID-19.
“I’m anxious,” she said, walking briskly towards the entrance. “I hear people with money or influence come to neighborhoods like ours and walk past others. ”
“Everyone is panicking with the variants,” she added.
Racial disparities
Iris Lopez is not entirely wrong. Until the end of January, residents of the suburbs or more affluent New York neighborhoods, mostly white, took advantage of the opening of the large vaccination center in Washington Heights to receive their first injection against COVID- 19. They didn’t have to shell out money or use their influence. But their ease of surfing the internet may have helped them land dates faster than residents 65 and older of Washington Heights or other black and Hispanic neighborhoods in New York City.
Result: after being hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic, of which New York was for several weeks the epicenter in the United States, blacks and Hispanics in the city are now lagging far behind whites on the vaccination plan, according to preliminary data unveiled last Sunday.
Of the nearly 300,000 New Yorkers who received a first injection and whose ethnicity has been identified, 48% were white, 15% Hispanic, 15% Asian and 11% black. Hispanics and blacks make up about 29% and 24% of New York’s population, respectively.
These data do not take into account approximately 300,000 doses administered to New Yorkers whose ethnicity has not been identified. But racial disparities in vaccination have also been noted in Washington, Miami, Philadelphia and Chicago, among others.
In several American cities, in fact, white people have been given appointments to be vaccinated in neighborhoods where they usually never set foot.
The “confusing” registration system
“This is a serious injustice,” said Malo Hutson, professor of urban planning at Columbia University and health equity specialist, of the New York situation. “It is an injustice that the people who have succumbed disproportionately to COVID-19 are not the ones lining up to get vaccinated. ”
Professor Hutson blames this in part on a registration system that “is confusing to many.”
Awareness was not what it should have been. If you are dealing with the most vulnerable people, you need to engage them in this immunization process.
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Malo Hutson, professor of urban planning at Columbia University
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At a press conference, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio pledged to “aggressively and creatively” tackle the “deep disparities” uncovered by preliminary immunization data. On Wednesday, he announced with New York Governor Andrew Cuomo that Yankee Stadium, located in the Bronx, will be transformed into a vaccination center starting this weekend.
PHOTO CARLO ALLEGRI, REUTERS
Bill de Blasio, mayor of New York, at a press conference on Friday outside Yankee Stadium, transformed into a vaccination center
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But Malo Hutson does not understand why it had to come to this. “It’s a failure of the government to properly prepare and be ready to deploy the system. The responsibility goes from the federal government to the local government. But I don’t know how New York City couldn’t be ready for it, ”he said.
A “lucky” New Yorker
In Washington Heights, even before data on racial disparities among New York vaccinees was released, vaccination site administrators changed the eligibility criteria. Since January 27, no commuter can make appointments there, these are now reserved for residents of the city.
Plus, at least 60% of dates must go to people from five black and Hispanic neighborhoods in New York City – Inwood, Washington Heights, North Harlem, Central Harlem, and South Bronx.
Kenny Brown, a resident of the Bronx, considers himself one of the “lucky” New Yorkers. He received a first injection of Moderna’s vaccine after a routine visit to his doctor.
“They had doses left after they had vaccinated all the medical staff,” said the 68-year-old outside the Washington Heights vaccination center. “They asked me if I wanted an injection. I replied: of course. And they made an appointment for me for the second injection that I just received. I was lucky. I didn’t have to take care of anything. ”
Iris Lopez, whose first date was canceled due to the snowstorm, also touted her luck on Wednesday. “I am ecstatic! She cried after learning from a security guard that she could be vaccinated the same day. A small victory in a battle where the most vulnerable of New York will not always be able to count on luck.
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