PHOENIX – Earlier this week, the Maricopa County Health Department debuted the COVID-19 vaccine panel, giving an insight into who is receiving the vaccine and who is not.
“Thank you, Maricopa County, because everything is out there in plain sight,” said former state health director Will Humble on Friday afternoon, moments after Dr. Christ, the current health director, gave a press conference saying the disparity due to the specific professional who are part of group 1A.
“It just shows that the priority is State Farm because of the optics and image that they have created abroad. and it’s happening at the expense of low-income communities because you can see the daily allocations favoring State Farm over those low-income communities, ”added Humble.
From Humble to Tomas Leon of the Equality Health Foundation to Data Guru Garrett Archer of ABC15, everyone agrees that the data presented by the county shows that those in richer postal codes are being vaccinated at higher rates.
“Your [the vaccine] it is not reaching the very people who were most affected by the virus. They are people of color, Hispanic, the African American community was devastated by COVID-19, ”said Tomas Leon, of the Equality Health Foundation.
A clear example of the disparity between postal codes in Maricopa County is 85009. Phoenix- has the lowest vaccination rate in Maricopa County.
Garrett Archer says: “85009 has the lowest vaccination rate in Maricopa County. This postal code also has, it is 90% minority in that postal code ”, said data analyst Garrett Archer at ABC15.
The state health department is trying to level the playing field, telling ABC15 that starting in March, they will open ‘micropavages (distribution points)’ in postal codes with low vaccine rates, like Maryvale and South Phoenix. Dr. Christ also told a group of reporters that they are working to arrange transportation for those who need to attend an appointment with the COVID-19 vaccine.
“You have to find people where they are. This is what this model is about, it is taking vaccines to the community, to the people who were most affected by this pandemic ”, added Leon.
The vaccine that is likely to be dispensed in the ‘microparticles’ is the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, which requires only one dose compared to Pfizer and Moderna, which require a booster injection. In addition, starting on Monday, the registration portal will be offered in Spanish.
Still, Dr. Christ’s former boss Will Humble, a critic of the online registration system – saying it is a ‘Darwinian gold rush system’ should be changed to a random selection to match the opportunity, no matter what. person’s work or ability for a good broadband internet system.
“We know that the nominations site is favoring wealthy people. It can be fixed in a weekend, until Tuesday morning. If I were in my previous position, we would roll out the new system on Tuesday and that would provide a level playing field for everyone, including low-income seniors, ”says Humble.
According to ABC’s Data Guru15, seven of the top ten postal codes in Maricopa County that received the first dose are postal codes where the average income is $ 80,000. Of these seven postal codes, four of them have an average income of $ 100,000.
‘Any system that is a supply and demand system that depends on internet connection and time availability, will always distort high-income individuals, because they are business owners or people who have time to get in line and sign up ”Added Archer.