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California health officials say that despite Governor Gavin Newsom’s efforts to equitably distribute the COVID-19 vaccine to nearly 40 million state residents, people living in poorer communities are receiving the vaccine at lower levels than those who live in wealthier areas.
Newsom has partnered with the federal government to establish mass vaccination sites in working-class neighborhoods in Oakland and Los Angeles. He also instructed insurance company Blue Shield to centralize California’s vaccine patchwork system, asking for help from the Kaiser Permanente hospital chain.
Patients receive an injection of Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine at the Orange County County Family Health Center, Friday, February 26, 2021, in Tustin, California. (AP)
Still, workers at community health centers that serve as a safety net for the poor in the United States, with a focus on health equity, say they are not getting enough doses for their patients – the high-risk residents that the state needs to vaccinate. .
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In California, nearly 1,400 of these centers offer free or low-cost services to about 7 million people, many in communities with a higher concentration of low-income families and few providers who take Medicaid – known in California as Medi-Cal. Many of their customers speak a language other than English, work long hours and do not have transportation.
Dr. Efrain Talamantes, director of operations at AltaMed Health Services, told the Associated Press that it was disheartening to see the initial doses go elsewhere, while his patients continued to show positive results for the virus.
“There is a clear disparity whenever there is a limited resource,” he said.
Most states are looking for ways to distribute the limited supply of vaccines, resulting in a confusion of methods in the absence of a federal plan. California distributes doses of vaccine to eligible groups, including teachers and rural workers. MMA enabled people with more resources to receive scarce vaccines.
As California has stepped up vaccination efforts through mobile and pop-up clinics in churches, workplaces and schools, state data show how relatively few vaccines went to Latinos and Blacks compared to their populations.
African Americans received 3% of the vaccine doses, while representing 6% of the state. Latinos, who represent 39% of the state, received 17% of the doses.
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Blue Shield officials say they plan to keep health centers that are already administering vaccines open, but clinics fear they will not receive enough doses.
Health centers watched with dismay when the vaccine for health workers initially went to larger hospitals in December. Then they watched as the most affluent and experienced English speakers on the Internet, with time to browse web portals and drive long distances to appointments, filled the vaccination arenas.
When Orange County started opening large-scale vaccination posts in mid-January, community health centers also ordered doses, said Isabel Becerra, chief executive of the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers.
“We don’t have transportation. We don’t speak English. We don’t understand the technology you’re asking us to use to register and get in line. So, can we vaccinate people 65 and over in the comfort of their own facilities?” She said.
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Jodie Wingo, interim president of the Riverside and San Bernardino counties community health association, said the associated clinics are expanding to inoculate more than its 500,000 patients. But now they are only receiving a few dozen doses at a time.
“Everyone is working for equity, but it doesn’t seem fair. Not at all, ”she said.
FOX Business contacted Governor Newsom’s press office for comment.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.