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SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Teresa Parada is exactly the kind of person fairness-minded California officials say they want to vaccinate: she is a retired factory worker who speaks little English and lives in a hard-hit part of the country. Los Angeles County.
But Parada, 70, has waited weeks while others his age flock to Dodger Stadium or get their coronavirus shots through large hospital networks. The place where she normally receives medical care, AltaMed, is receiving just enough supplies to vaccinate her later this month.
Parada said television reports show people lining up to get vaccinated, but “I only see vaccines intended for Anglos.
“It’s rare that I see a Latino out there for the vaccine. When will it be our turn? she said.
Gov. Gavin Newsom has repeatedly called fairness his “northern star” for immunizing a diverse state of nearly 40 million people. It has partnered with the federal government to set up mass vaccination sites in working-class neighborhoods in Oakland and Los Angeles. Part of the reason he tasked insurer Blue Shield with centralizing California’s patchwork vaccination system, asking the Kaiser Permanente hospital chain to help him.
Yet officials at community health centers seen as the backbone of the health equity-focused safety net for the poor in the United States say they are not getting enough doses for their patients. – residents at high risk for whom the State must vaccinate.
In California, nearly 1,400 of these centers provide free or low-cost services to about 7 million people, many in communities with a higher concentration of low-income families and few providers who take Medicaid, known in California. under the name Medi-Cal. Many of their clients speak a language other than English, work long hours, lack transportation, and want to go to healthcare professionals they trust.
Dr Efrain Talamantes, director of operations for AltaMed Health Services, said it was disheartening to see the initial doses go elsewhere while his patients continued to test positive for the virus.
“There is a clear disparity any time there is a finite resource,” he said.
Most states are looking for ways to distribute a limited supply of vaccine, resulting in a mishmash of methods in the absence of a federal plan. Tennessee is among the states that distribute doses based on county population, while California assigns them by eligible groups, including teachers and farm workers. Free-for-all has allowed people with the most resources to get vaccinated.
Dr Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, director of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California at San Francisco, said it seems obvious that the best strategy for getting vaccines into hard-hit communities is to turn to places where residents already get to care. But managers of big box stores tend to think of community health centers as less effective because of their small size, she said.
“We are not very imaginative in how we effectively deliver vaccines. Our only creative solutions are to build mass vaccination sites, and maybe give people preferential access to those sites, ”she said.
As California has stepped up its immunization efforts through mobile and pop-up clinics in churches, workplaces, and schools, state data shows relatively few vaccines have gone to Latinos and blacks compared to their own. populations.
African Americans received 3% of vaccine doses despite 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 that already administer vaccines open, but clinics fear they will not receive enough doses.
State vaccine spokesperson Darrel Ng said the governor’s plan for equitable immunization includes setting aside vaccines for “disproportionately affected communities and ensuring that providers who serve these communities are part of the network. Black churches.
Andie Martinez Patterson, vice president of government affairs for the California Primary Care Association, said if large-scale health systems can immunize people quickly, they are unlikely to reach targeted residents.
Community health centers have worked hard to persuade their patients to get vaccinated, said Alexander Rossel, executive director of Families Together in Orange County, adding that his center has inoculated 95% of its patients aged 65 and over. .
Health centers observed with dismay that vaccines for health workers were initially sent to major hospitals in December. Then they saw better-off English speakers more Internet-savvy with time to browse web portals and travel long distances for appointments flocked to vaccination arenas.
When Orange County began opening large-scale vaccination sites in mid-January, community health centers also requested doses, said Isabel Becerra, executive director of the Coalition of Community Health Centers of the Orange County.
“We have no transport. We don’t speak English. We do not understand the technology you are asking us to use to register and queue. So, can we immunize those 65 and over in the comfort of their own facilities? ” she said.
Jodie Wingo, interim president of the Riverside and San Bernardino County Community Health Association, said member clinics were expanding to inoculate more than 500,000 patients. But now they only get a few dozen doses at a time.
“Everyone is working towards fairness, but it doesn’t sound fair. At all, ”she said.
AltaMed in Los Angeles and Orange counties recently began receiving 3,000 doses per week from both counties. The supply is expected to allow customers like Parada, who hails from Mexico, to receive her vaccine this month.
AltaMed will send a vehicle to take her to a clinic for the photo that will protect her when she goes out, masked, shopping for the family.
“I’m the one who has to go out. I have to protect myself, ”she said.
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