White Californians have so far received 32.7% of the first available doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, compared with 16% for Latinos, 13% for Asians, 2.9% for blacks and 0.3% for native populations, according to with a new state report that provides a snapshot of vaccine distribution.
The new data from the California Department of Public Health, for the first time, divide the recipients of the vaccine by age, race, sex and location. Due to limited supplies, healthcare professionals, long-term care residents and people aged 65 and over make up the majority of those who received the first dose.
As of Sunday, 8,051,475 doses of the vaccine have been delivered to distribution sites across the state, and 5,768,684 doses have been administered. More than 8 million additional doses were shipped.
The elderly head the list of those who received the first dose of the vaccine, with 54.7%; followed by people aged 18 to 49, with 28.7%; and those aged 50-64, at 16.6%, according to the report. Women represent the majority of those who received the vaccine, with 58.5%, compared to men, with 41.1%, and those who refused to declare the gender or identified themselves as transsexual or other, with 0.4 %.
State data are also divided by municipality, with disparities varying from region to region.
For example, in Los Angeles County, the new report shows, Latinos received 23.2% of the vaccine doses available; whites, 21.9%; Asian Americans, 14.6%; Blacks, 4.1%; and indigenous populations, 0.1%. In comparison, in San Diego, whites received 42.3% of the vaccine available; Latinos, 14.1%; Asians, 10.8%; Blacks, 1.9%; and indigenous populations, 0.5%.
But some Los Angeles County health officials and activists have argued that vaccines are not effectively targeting communities most affected by the pandemic. Instead, the doses went to major vaccination centers, like Dodger Stadium, or healthcare providers like Kaiser.
They point out that black, Latin and Asian populations make up a large proportion of essential county workers and that many in these communities may not have access to the health insurance, transportation or computers needed to register for vaccination and are therefore being left behind. .
“The playing field is not even now,” said Don Garcia of the Monsenor Romero Clinic in Boyle Heights, near downtown Los Angeles.
State data does not tell the whole story, he said. Although Latinos appear to be vaccinated at better rates than others in LA County, it is important who in the community is being treated.
“I’m in it [23%]”Said Garcia. “I took the vaccine without despair … and my patients cannot be vaccinated. This is the health inequality we are talking about ”.
His clinic recently received 100 vaccines for its 12,000 patients, most of them Latinos, many of whom have no legal status and work in the service sector. Since March, the rate of positive results for coronavirus among those being tested at the clinic has been 40%. This is four times the average seven-day positive test rate for LA County overall, which was 9.99% on Saturday.
The number of Latino residents in LA County who die daily from COVID-19, on average, over a two-week period has skyrocketed: 40 deaths per 100,000 Latino residents. That’s almost three times as many white residents, a segment of the population that sees an average of 14 deaths per 100,000.
Most dying Latinos are older and, in many cases, part of the region’s large immigrant population. In many cases, they may not be aware of their options and this affects the wider community.
“We are talking about the abuelitas uncles and aunts,“Garcia said. “We are talking about immigrants, the undocumented.”
In southern Los Angeles, Dr. Jerry Abraham is battling similar injustices at the Kedren Community Health Center. In a matter of weeks, the clinic managed to create a model to better distribute the vaccine doses in the most equitable way possible.
“When I look at those numbers,” said Abraham, “you better believe that Kedren represents a large part of that 2.8%” of vaccines given to blacks.
The clinic started with 100 doses, which he administered to health professionals in Kedren and elsewhere. Since then, he has worked to remove barriers for the elderly, those who do not speak English and those who do not have transportation, with volunteers and interpreters helping patients to register for the vaccine.
The clinic now receives 6,000 doses of vaccine per week, but has treated up to 2,000 people daily.
“We are literally in an arms race to find every dose valid across the county,” said Abraham. “We never have enough vaccines.”
Both Garcia and Abraham say a key element in equitable vaccine distribution is bringing vaccines to people in their homes and communities through fleets of mobile vaccination units.
“When you make a fire, you bring water to put out the fire,” said Garcia. “We are on fire. We are the blue flame. “
The worst wave of the pandemic peaked in early January. At that time, the state registered almost 45,000 new cases of coronavirus a day.
That number has since dropped – to an average of 11,180 daily cases on Thursday, according to data compiled by The Times.
This is still more than three times the average number of daily cases that California saw before the increase occurred. And now there are the presence of new highly contagious coronavirus variants across the state.
On Saturday, Los Angeles County public health officials confirmed 3,254 new cases of coronavirus and 197 related deaths. To date, the Department of Public Health has identified 1,164,769 cases of coronavirus across LA County and a total of 18,984 deaths.
“Cases are decreasing, but they are still high,” said LA County Health Officer Dr. Muntu Davis. “And then people need to understand that even if they’re falling, the risk of finding someone with COVID-19 who they may not know is still very high.”
California is adding 4 million to 6 million more people for eligibility list for the COVID-19 vaccine, but officials warn that actually being inoculated will continue to be a frustrating process as long as chronic supply shortages persist.
As of March 15, people aged 16 to 64 with disabilities or at high risk of morbidity and mortality from coronavirus will be eligible for vaccination. This will bring the total number of Californians eligible for 17 million to 20 million.
But with supplies so limited, it will ultimately be up to local suppliers to decide who gets the vaccine right away, with medical professionals, first responders, people aged 65 and over, teachers and essential professionals, all competing for vaccines.
Doctors Garcia and Abraham said they expected their communities to receive the vaccine supplies they need as soon as possible.
“We are used to being forgotten,” said Abraham. “We are used to having to do a lot with very little. We do this every day, with COVID or without COVID. “
Team writers Luke Money and Rong-Gong Lin II contributed to this story.