The new vaccination data for the city, which the health commission plans to release every Monday, is broken down by the beneficiaries’ race and ethnicity, their neighborhood and age group, in addition to the date the doses were administered. During a virtual roundtable on vaccine equality on Tuesday, Marty Martinez, the city’s head of Health and Human Services, discussed the data and outlined the city’s strategy to ensure that vaccines are accessible to everyone in Boston, especially residents Latinos, who suffered disproportionately from COVID 19 infections and black residents, who are overrepresented in COVID-19 deaths.
Martinez said that disparities in neighborhood vaccination data are partly the result of Massachusetts current eligibility requirements. Vaccines are available only to people who fall under Phase 1 of the state plan, such as health professionals and first responders, as well as people aged 65 or over or with two or more specific medical conditions. He said the city will continue to monitor the data to identify gaps in access to or acceptance of the vaccine.
“If you know Boston, you know neighborhoods [and] you kind of know where a lot of health professionals live, a lot of rescuers, ”said Martinez on Tuesday.
“At the moment, our most affected neighborhoods are also the neighborhoods with the lowest vaccination rate by the population,” he added. “So, we really want to make sure that this trend is more about who is eligible – not about who is going to get the vaccine [and who’s not]. “
How As of February 23, nearly 96,000 first doses were administered to residents of Boston, according to the health commission, representing about 16 percent of the population over 16. city population, in about 60,700 doses per 100,000 people.
The neighborhoods with the smallest inoculation rates tend to have predominantly black and latin populations. East Boston and Mattapan have the lowest rates at around 10,403 and 10,561 first doses per 100,000 residents, respectively, followed by postal codes 02121 and 02125 in Dorchester (10,637 first doses per 100,000), which cover Grove Hall, Uphams Corner and Jones Hill .
In comparison, in West Roxbury, which is approximately 70% white, the inoculation rate is the highest in the city, with just over 20,000 first doses per 100,000 people. South End and Jamaica Plain are also among the neighborhoods with the highest rates, about 19,900 and 18,900 first doses per 100,000, respectively.
Data show that white residents in Boston were vaccinated at the highest rate (16,215 first doses per 100,000), based on their proportion in the population. This is followed by Asian residents (15,115 first doses per 100,000) and black residents (14,089 first doses per 100,000).
Latin residents have by far the lowest vaccination rate in the city, with 8,086 first doses per 100,000 people.
Alexandra Oliver-Dávila, executive director of Sociedad Latina and a member of Mayor Martin J. Walsh’s Health Inequities Task Force COVID-19, said at the roundtable on Tuesday that the relatively low Latin vaccination rate “speaks to many problems “, including many The fear and distrust of Latin immigrants towards the government, which worsened during the administration of former President Donald Trump.
“You have to be smart, you have to be online, you have to know how to navigate things,” she said of the challenges of scheduling a vaccination appointment. The tongue is also a barrier, she said, and so is transport. “Not everyone can get around everywhere in the city,” he added.
There are 18 vaccination posts open to the public within the city limits. The city’s goal, said Martinez, is to increase that number to 25.
Martinez said the city is taking a four-pronged approach. The first part of the strategy depends on mass vaccination sites, such as the Reggie Lewis Center at Roxbury Community College, where half of the consultations are being reserved for community groups serving immigrants and residents of color. The city is also supporting clinics aimed at specific priority groups, smaller neighborhood-based sites and mobile vaccination units that will provide vaccines to the most vulnerable residents.
On Friday, Boston Medical Emergency Services will test a mobile vaccination program in a Housing Authority building in Roxbury, said Martinez, the first of at least three teams he hopes to bring vaccines to people living in home and the most difficult to reach. The city is also planning a clinic in Mattapan on Monday that will eventually serve essential workers. Martinez said the city hopes to open a second clinic for essential workers in Dorchester as well.
“We believe that we will need all four strategies to vaccinate fairly,” said Martinez, “[and] to ensure that we have a large number of people who are vaccinated. “
Deanna Pan can be reached at [email protected]. Follow her on twitter @DDpan.