Only one in three black New Yorkers who are eligible for the COVID-19 vaccine actually received an injection, according to data released on the state’s official tracker. The trend applies to both older black residents and black essential workers.
African Americans account for 13% of eligible people over 65, but they have only taken 4% of vaccine doses in that group so far. Likewise, older Latinos received about half of their required quota; they received 5% of vaccinations, but comprise 12% of this phase 1b group.
The opposite applies to whites and Asians aged 65 and over, who are already accounting for their expected share of vaccine doses. Older white adults represent 77% of those eligible and received 78% of vaccines. Older Asians represent 7% of the group and received 8% of vaccines.
These state data are updated on February 4 and separate race from ethnicity. It also breaks down the disparity differences between hospital workers in phase 1a and essential workers in phase 1b, such as teachers and traffic workers.
Essential black workers also received less than a third of their portion of the vaccine.
The essential white and Asian workers are fully covered, while the Latin members of that group have taken about three out of four doses expected for them.
City and state officials said the racial disparities in the vaccination program were caused by the vaccine’s hesitation as well as access challenges.
“This is a real challenge, and I don’t believe in disguising a problem because you never solve a problem that you are not willing to admit,” said Governor Andrew Cuomo during a news conference on Friday showing the state’s data. “We expected it. We talked about it at the beginning. We are dealing with it. But it still exists.”
Cuomo believes that data from hospital staff – who have direct access to injections through their medical settings – indicate that hesitation about the vaccine is a major challenge among black New Yorkers.
Among hospital staff, 17% of staff are African-American, although only 10% have been vaccinated so far. White hospital workers represent 70% of the group and 63% of vaccines. Asian and Latino hospital workers are overrepresented in the February 4 state data, suggesting that their groups are fully covered by the vaccine.
State officials also released vaccination rates among hospital staff by municipality, which vary between different regions of the state. Among the five districts, Staten Island has the highest percentage of hospital employees who received at least one dose in 81%. This is followed by Manhattan with 78%, Bronx with 74%, Queens with 73% and Brooklyn with 62%. Albany, Rensselaer and Cayuga counties are the highest ranked in the state, with at least nine out of 10 hospital employees being vaccinated.
Here are the mapped data:
Cuomo and Mayor Bill de Blasio for months have emphasized the importance of vaccine equality. Both spoke to religious leaders and addressed church congregations. They set up vaccination sites in colorful neighborhoods and public housing estates and launched campaigns to encourage people to get vaccinated.
City data made public a few months after the vaccine was launched shows that these efforts were not enough to prevent a repeat of the racial disparities seen during the peak of COVID-19 infections and deaths. Black and Hispanic New Yorkers are dying of COVID-19 at nearly twice the rate of white New York residents.
A survey by the Association for a Better New York released in late January suggests that vaccine hesitation is greatest among blacks, Latinos and Asians living in New York, although this survey is not representative and is biased towards people with access to the Internet. But the challenges of access to distribution also affected the vaccination campaign from the start – from a patchwork of different websites to navigate and language barriers to criticisms that the authorities did not make contact with the community as much as they should.
Not all New Yorkers also have access to broadband internet. For those over 65 who live alone, 40% have broadband at home, and while New York is 51% black and Hispanic, less than half of families with broadband are among these groups, according to published city statistics. in a January plan to bring internet to everyone.