BP Adams Announces Freedom Of Information Law Request To Get Data On Race And Ethnicity Of Vaccine Recipients

Press release from the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President:

January 25, 2021

Mayor de Blasio Commits to Releasing Racial and Ethnic Data on Vaccinations Later This Week; Borough President Adams Stresses Need for Data to Be Released Immediately and Tracked in Real-Time

Queens, NY – Yesterday, Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams joined elected leaders in front of theNew York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) headquarters in Long Island City, Queens to announce that he is teaming up with famed civil rights attorney Norman Siegel on a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request to the City of New York demanding it release racial and ethnic data of those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine to date. Borough President Adams, who recently joined the City Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus (BLAC) to call for the City to implement a real-time reporting system for such data, is now demanding the release of the data collected to date to ensure the dosages of the vaccine are administered equitably. During a press briefing this morning, Mayor de Blasio committed to releasing data from the City with an ethnic and racial breakdown of vaccine recipients to date later this week.

On Saturday, Governor Cuomo announced that the State had no more dosages of the vaccine left to administer after the first five weeks of shipments. Although New York is expected to receive 250,000 doses next week, with 100,000 doses expected to arrive in New York City, the slow pace of vaccinations has raised concerns about how quickly the city and state will be able to reach herd immunity. In addition, a clear trend emerging in other states throughout the United States shows that many of the same disparities that were exposed during the pandemic are now being mirrored in the distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine. A recent survey by the Kaiser Health Foundation analyzed data compiled by 16 states — not including New York — and found that, to date, White Americans have been receiving the vaccine at higher rates than Black Americans, sometimes as much as two to three times higher. As the City and State prepare for new shipments of the vaccine, Borough President Adams believes greater transparency around who is receiving the vaccine through real-time reporting mechanisms must be utilized to buck this concerning nationwide trend.

“We cannot afford to wait any longer. For weeks, we have been calling on the City to release the data on who is being vaccinated, to determine if the vaccine is being distributed equitably. Now, a troubling — but predictable — pattern is developing in states that have released the data, showing that Black Americans are falling behind in vaccination rates. We need real-time data on the racial breakdown of those who have been vaccinated, and we need it now. I’m proud to partner with Norman Siegel, a staunch advocate for justice and equality, in demanding the City show us the numbers. It is heartening to hear that Mayor de Blasio has committed to releasing this data as of this morning, but we should have been collecting and reporting it from the start of our vaccination efforts. The longer we wait to get a clear picture of our vaccination rollout, the more we risk making the same mistakes we did in the early days of the pandemic,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.

“In order to eventually overcome this devastating pandemic, our City needs a solid and equitable vaccination program. It is alarming that mere weeks into the vaccination rollout that we don’t know which New Yorkers have received their shots. COVID-19 has disproportionately affected communities of color and our immigrant population, and we need answers from the City to ensure they distribute vaccines equitably by conducting culturally competent outreach. Here in Queens, we were the epicenter of the epicenter of the virus and proud to help our most underserved communities get through this pandemic,” said Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, Jr.

“We must ensure that communities of color, frontline workers, and those who put themselves on the line for our communities during this deadly pandemic have equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccine. The City must make racial and ethnic data available as we continue to work to get our communities inoculated. I commend Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams for his leadership on this issue, and look forward to our continued work on behalf of the most marginalized and severely impacted communities in the City,” said Council Member and BLAC Co-Chair I. Daneek Miller.

“It was was Black, Latino, and immigrant communities who saw the highest rates of COVID-19 deaths during the height of pandemic. We need to make sure the City is prioritizing these communities in the vaccine rollout. That is why I am proud to join Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams in calling for there to be more transparency as to the racial composition of those who have already received the vaccine,” said Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez. “I look forward to continuing to work alongside Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams and my colleague at the city and state level to ensure we are prioritizing the communities who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus.”

“We need to act with extreme urgency to ensure quick and equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccines. It was clear in the spring that systemic racism and inaction meant a disproportionate rate of death among the Black and Brown communities. The disparities are back with a vengeance. Everyone needs to be safe right now, and that will require an intentional effort by the City, State, and Federal governments to help the communities with the fewest resources and greatest need. I join my colleagues in demanding a system to track vaccine racial distribution data in real-time to ensure they’re being distributed on an equitable basis,” said Council Member Robert E. Cornegy, Jr.

“For years, we have said that withholding government data creates an unnecessary burden for the public and sows doubt. Open data is key for building public trust in government. Seeing how our governments are operating enables the public to better understand its operations. Trust is what gives the government the latitude to do more good work. Throughout this pandemic, we have had to remind the Mayor the value of open data. Times of crisis may seem to make open data less of a priority, but these times are in fact when open data is needed the most. Releasing New York’s COVID-19 vaccine data will be crucial to prepare for continued outbreaks. To prevent more tragedy, we need this Administration to report out on where the virus travels, whom it is affecting, how it is getting there, who is most at risk, and, now, who is getting vaccines. This doesn’t mean that the City should limit its datasets to in-house experts — instead, the data should be opened up so that the informed public can share its own analysis and insight rather than being restricted to official narratives,” said BetaNYC Executive Director Noel Hidalgo.

As of today, New York City has administered 628,831 doses of the vaccine in total, according to data from DOHMH. That includes 539,393 units of the first dose of the vaccine, and 89,438 units of the second dose. The portal that provides daily updates on vaccination numbers does not currently provide information on the demographic background of those who have received vaccines.

This press release was produced by the Office of the Brooklyn Borough President. The views expressed are the author's own.