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In many cases, emergency doctor Dr Marina Del Rios says it really comes down to logistics and access issues.
“Most people are ready to get the shot,” Dr Del Rios told CNN. But “they have more questions about ‘where can I get the shot, when is my turn, is it okay? cost me money? “
Residents of the country, Hispanics or Latinos have contracted Covid-19 at nearly twice the rate of whites and have been hospitalized more than four times the rate of whites, according to recent data from the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention . And just under 12% of those vaccinated in the first month of deployment were Hispanic or Latin American.
The city has made an effort to make the vaccine more readily available. Unlike many large metropolitan areas, Chicago allows pharmacies like Walgreens to immunize eligible people, as well as small local pharmacies in the area.
Still, distribution sites are clustered in the whiter areas of the city and are much more scattered around the city’s southern and western sides, where most residents are black or Hispanic. Black and Hispanic Chicagoans received a total of 38% of the first doses of the vaccine, while white residents received nearly 50%, according to a CNN analysis.
Dr Del Rios, who works at the University of Illinois at Chicago Medical Center, likened the vaccine distribution process to “playing the Hunger Games.”
“If you are not already tied to a medical home, which is a reality for many Latinos without papers or insurance, then your chances of getting the vaccine anytime soon are slim to none.”
What are the obstacles?
Fahida Martinez has lived and worked in the small town of Chicago for many years. As someone whose job is primarily focused on community outreach, working from home during the pandemic was not ideal. She found herself on the phone and on Zoom with members of the community more than ever before.
Martinez recently received her first dose of the vaccine and said she felt privileged to have been among the first.
Work schedules can create barriers for many people who want the vaccine, she told CNN.
More appointments in the morning, at night and throughout the weekend would give people a better chance of getting the shot, Martinez said.
“I would like, for example, the clinics, or the places where they administer the vaccine, to have hours … a lot in the morning, as well as in the evening, to give people the possibility,” she said. “Even on Saturdays and Sundays, when people don’t have to leave their workday.
As the rollout continues, vaccine distribution sites should have flexible hours, experts say.
Katya Nuques, executive director of Enlace Chicago, a community organization, said 44% of residents of Little Village are uninsured and 25% are undocumented.
Enlace focuses on education, violence prevention, immigration and health and all of them are linked to Covid-19, she says.
“You basically have to do two things at the same time. One is to educate a community,” she told CNN. “On the other hand, you have to provide the availability and provide the vaccine and those two things are not related.”
Rios, said the emergency physician, “if you are not already tied to a medical home, which is a reality for many undocumented or uninsured Latinos, then your chances of getting the vaccine anytime soon are slim, if not zero. “
As a frontline worker, Dr Del Rios was one of the first to get vaccinated and the first in Chicago.
“Why not step in and show my own community ‘hey, I’m okay with getting the vaccine, I know the data and I can tell you what side effects you should expect,’” she said. .
How to make sure that “ everyone understands this ”
Hospitals, for example, must ensure that all of their workforce, including food and maintenance staff, receive all correspondence relating to registering for the vaccine, said Dr Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association.
Black, Latino and Asian Americans make up 41% of healthcare workers, while 59% are white, according to Kaiser. And the majority of workers in long-term health care facilities, 52%, are people of color.
Benjamin said the vaccine should also be given outside of traditional hours so people who work hourly, frontline jobs don’t have to leave work. Communities, he said, should consider a plan to transport poor families without vehicles to health facilities to receive the vaccine.
“You have to say, ‘I want to make sure everyone understands this,’” Benjamin said. “We need to make sure that we think about all the ways people can give in (to get the vaccine) and we need to make sure we have a vaccine available for them when they call.”
Some researchers have said it is alarming to have disparities so early in the process when most of those vaccinated are healthcare workers.
Dr Fola May, a health equity researcher at UCLA Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Equity, said she would expect healthcare workers to be the most informed and least hesitant about science. .
May be concerned this indicates greater racial differences when the vaccine becomes widely available.
“I think we botched this,” May said. “If we see it in this population that should have the least anti-science bias, then when we look at the larger populations, we will have even fewer people with the right information and access.”
CNN’s Nicquel Terry Ellis and Priya Krishnakumar contributed to this report.
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