MADISON, Wis. – Health officials’ goal is to get the vaccine to everyone against COVID-19, but state data shows some groups getting vaccinated more quickly than others.
“Communities of color have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19,” said Ajay Sethi, a UW-Madison associate professor of population health sciences.
Data from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services shows unevenness in vaccine distribution so far, too.
As of Tuesday, about 24% of white Dane County residents had gotten at least one dose compared to 10% of Black people, 12% of Asian people and 23% of American Indian people in the county. The numbers across the state show similar disparities.
“There’s a history of that, but we don’t want to fall into complacency,” Sethi said.
DHS said in a statement that there’s not one factor that drives the disparities, listing systemic barriers such as a lack of access to quality healthcare, housing, transportation and job opportunities.
“In addition, other barriers like language, culture, and religion should be considered,” the statement said. “And we also acknowledge that historic racism and medical mistreatment may contribute to vaccine hesitancy.”
“I believe it is the health care community’s job, it is our responsibility, to help come up with solutions,” said Damond Boatwright, SSM Health of Wisconsin’s regional president.
‘Meet people where they are’: The role of vaccinators
Vaccinators, including health systems, are coming up with their own equity strategies. At SSM Health, nurse practitioners and physicians assistants called 1,300 of their patients who identify as part of the Black, Indigenous and people of color community who had been contacted but didn’t have a scheduled appointment. About 34% of those patients were able to set up an appointment, while another 34% had already gotten the vaccine.
SSM Health is also partnering with community organizations serving BIPOC as well as other vulnerable populations. For example, St. Mary’s Hospital works with the Urban League of Greater Madison to get extra end-of-day doses to eligible members of the organization.
Damond said they’re also working with community churches and restaurants to open lines of communication about the vaccine’s effectiveness and safety.
“You have to get outside our four walls of hospitals and clinics and meet people where they are,” Damond said. “We’re currently focused on partnerships at grassroots levels that build trust with various communities as well as provide better access.”
He said it’s a mix of lack of access and community mistrust in health care rooted in historic racism and life experiences that drive disparities.
“If we can rebuild trust there, I honestly believe there will be long-term positive effects to overall better health for our community,” Damond said.
Sethi pointed to the latest vaccine data, which shows 14% of Black people say they will definitely not get the vaccine – very similar to other populations.
“When you look at it across race and ethnicity, it’s actually not that different if someone is white, Black, or Hispanic,” Sethi said. “So some of the disparities now may be due to access, not because of refusals … There are a lot of people who are Black who want to get vaccinated.”
‘There just aren’t any excuses’: Equity work going forward
DHS invested $6.1 million in a program to promote vaccine distribution equity, with about half going to current vaccine equity work being done by Federally Qualified Health Centers, Aging and Disability Resource Centers, Family Health La Clinica, Minority Health Grantees, and United Way of Wisconsin 211, to be used on efforts such as sharing information.
The remaining money will be distributed in nearly 50 grants to community-based organizations that will work toward reducing barriers to vaccinations, such as misinformation or lack of transportation.
DHS is able to identify communities in need using the Social Vulnerability Index, which is also a factor that goes into its vaccine allocation model for vaccination partners across the state.
Along with the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program, DHS is standing up mobile vaccination teams and community-based clinics for underserved areas.
“DHS continues to be committed to the safe, equitable, and quick distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine, and encourages all vaccination partners to create and implement an equity strategy to increase access for our state’s most vulnerable populations,” the agency said in a statement.
With increased options for vaccination, including the one-dose Johnson & Johnson shot, Sethi is hopeful some of the current disparities level out.
“Now that we have vaccines going to be able to be delivered in doctors’ offices and more widely, there just aren’t any excuses,” Sethi said. “We have to be able to vaccinate everybody.”
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