Blacks, Hispanics Underserved In Coronavirus Vaccine Rollout

CONNECTICUT — New data released Wednesday suggests that the coronavirus vaccine is not making its way into Black and other underserved neighborhoods in Connecticut with the same penetration as white communities.

It's the first time the state Department of Health has distributed the vaccine administration information broken down along race and ethnic lines. The data is limited, and comes with some caveats.

Providers and those receiving the vaccine are under no obligation to report their race correctly; they have the options of checking off "other," "multiple races," or "not reported." And because providers are not using a uniform system to make their reports to the state, the final aggregation can lead to missing or under-reported data, according to DPH.

Despite these limitations, Acting Public Health Commissioner Dr. Deidre Gifford acknowledged that the data does suggest that disparities exist in the administration of vaccines.

"As we open up the vaccine program to individuals 65 and over, we are redoubling our efforts to ensure that vaccine is reaching the communities and populations who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19," Gifford said.

In the hyper-fragile demographic of age 75 and above, over 59 percent of the vaccine distributed went to white people. Less than 2 percent went to Blacks, and under 3 percent was administered to Hispanics.

"We are re-allocating additional vaccine to communities with large minority populations, encouraging our vaccine providers to conduct outreach and implement other measures to ensure that individuals from underserved communities have equitable access to vaccinations."

The problem is also not unique to Connecticut. DPH said its data mirrors what states across the country have seen in terms of the distribution disparities.

The poor quality of the data is also not unusual. Fifty percent of the data reported by vaccine providers across the country to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention did not contain race/ethnicity information, according to the department.

Gifford said the state will be targeting towns which have a high "social vulnerability index" with an additional 10 percent of its vaccine allocation for use at clinics targeted for senior housing, congregate settings, and other locations with populations that might not have easy access to the vaccine. Two-thirds of the 60 pharmacy locations launching this week will be in high SVI towns, and one-third are in rural, underserved communities.

The state is also establishing a Vaccine Appointment Assist Line (877-918-2224) to make it easier for non-English speaking residents or those with technology problems to schedule an inoculation.

This was the first data drop on the ethnicity of the vaccinated in Connecticut, and it may be the last for a while. Due to the spotty nature of the data and the "constrained supply" of the vaccine, the DPH said it does not have plans for a regular release of this data. That could change "as the number of individuals receiving their first dose of the vaccine becomes more robust and data reporting more reliable."

Notes on the DPH data:

* The percentages of people classified as "Other" and "Multiple" are higher than would be expected based on census data and likely include some people who should be classified as Asian, Black, Hispanic or White. Therefore, the coverage in other groups may be underestimated and the coverage estimates should be interpreted with caution.

** These estimates are not being shown because they are considered unreliable