San Antonio: The Need To Prioritize Vulnerable Populations Living In Communities Disproportionately Affected By Coronavirus

Press release from the City of San Antonio:

December 10, 2020

SAN ANTONIO – As the initial phase of the COVID-19 vaccine for healthcare workers rollout begins in Texas following the guiding principles and criteria developed by the Expert Vaccine Allocation Panel (EVAP) and approved by the Governor and the Department of State Health Services (DSHS) with the inclusion of some regional hospital systems in Bexar County, Councilwoman Viagran and Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia continue to advocate on behalf of the communities with a higher incidence of COVID-19 cases and deaths. The following is a statement from Councilwoman Viagran and Councilwoman Adriana Rocha Garcia respectively:

“The City has received its first round of coronavirus vaccines; I feel we as a City need to be united and intentional on our approach and start our roll-out process on administering the vaccine to high-priority areas. We have the data, and the numbers reveal that the Southern sector of San Antonio is dealing with the most COVID-19 cases and number of deaths throughout the City of San Antonio and Bexar County.

We need to be clear in our mission when moving forward with the City’s vaccine deployment and focus in areas with the most health disparities, along with providing the greatest relief to our front-line healthcare workforce. Anything short of that, our community and residents will continue to suffer inequity,” stated Councilwoman Viagran.

“We’ve seen how this public health crisis can ravage our vulnerable communities, especially those with a high rate of residents who are underinsured or have no health insurance. If co-morbidities are prevalent in some of the communities we serve, we need to be mindful of our response efforts, specifically by increasing access to the COVID-19 vaccine and medical care.”

“As future distribution phases begin to take shape, we need to ensure we utilize an equitable approach as more rounds of COVID-19 vaccines are made available, by including our smaller hospitals and clinics located in our hard-hit communities and serve our constituents in low income areas like the Southside,” said Councilwoman Rocha Garcia.

The first phase of vaccination distribution for healthcare workers does not include hospitals in the Southside because they did not meet the requirements implemented by the State for the first round of vaccines, including those with the highest number of patients in the city, and facilities with the needed ultra-cold storage with enough capacity to store a high number of vaccines. All healthcare workers and frontline workers will still have access to the COVID-19 vaccines through other area hospitals. We want to thank our hospital systems for working together to provide vaccines to all our healthcare workers across the city.

This press release was produced by the City of San Antonio. The views expressed here are the author’s own.