Philadelphia’s immediate suburban jurisdictions have benefited most from the vaccine’s honor policy, but data show that more than 10,000 vaccines have also gone to residents with legal residences spread across a large stretch of the country.
Hundreds of New Yorkers have been vaccinated in city clinics, as have dozens in the Bay Area. A vaccine recipient listed a residence in Big Horn County, Montana. Another listed Juneau, Alaska. Another, the island of Hawaii.
Still waiting for a vaccine in northern Philadelphia
The pandemic, meanwhile, has hit Philadelphia neighborhoods like Bridesburg and parts of North and Southwest Philly, where vaccination rates have been low.
Darryl Rodgers, 64, lives in northern Philadelphia at one of the city’s least vaccinated zip codes, 19132. Rodgers was eager to get the injection because he suffers from chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, heart disease and asthma, which make him tall. risk for COVID-19. He managed to schedule a shot at Walgreens in his neighborhood, but in the days leading up to his appointment, he said the pharmacy called him to cancel because he was not 75 years old. Rodgers said he made it clear that he was in a position to make him eligible.
“They rejected me,” he said.
Philadelphia recently designated pharmacies as vaccination centers for people over 75 years old, in an effort to guarantee priority for the elderly and to eliminate jumpers who are not yet eligible, said Farley. The downside is that those, like Rodgers, with other high-risk conditions or in areas of high need, are forced to find another place to go.
Since Philadelphia received its first distribution of the vaccine in December, white residents have received a disproportionate proportion of the doses, and the wealthiest parts of the city – such as Center City or Chestnut Hill – have generally seen the highest vaccination rates. About 20% of the city’s doses went to blacks, who represent more than 40% of the city’s residents. Less than 10% respectively went to people who identify themselves as Asian, Hispanic or with another racial or ethnic identity. The Department of Health did not provide racial discrimination against non-residents who received the vaccine.
The city is struggling to reach people in unvaccinated zip codes through its own neighborhood clinics, which opened earlier this week. Farley also said the city is using its zip code map to sample residents in unvaccinated zip codes when inviting people to future events. The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, which operates vaccine clinics in churches and at the Temple University Liacouras Center, is also prioritizing people in underrepresented postal codes.
Earlier this month, Rodgers received the sad news of a fourth high-risk disease: an early-stage cancer diagnosis. Soon after, her doctor called to schedule the first dose of the vaccine. Still, Rodgers felt that a cancer diagnosis should not be needed to get a dose.
“We know that people of color have been at a disadvantage for a long time, this is just another case,” said Rodgers, who is an African American. “I don’t know if that is going to change.”