New data has revealed shocking differences between New York City neighborhoods when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination coverage.
On Tuesday, the city’s Ministry of Health and Mental Hygiene announced the vaccination rate for coronavirus by zip code.
In wealthier, white neighborhoods such as the Upper East, Douglaston, and City Island, as many as 25 percent of all adults have received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
But in low-income and minority neighborhoods – which have been hit hardest in terms of cases and deaths – vaccination rates are lagging behind.
Areas such as The South Bronx, parts of downtown Queens, and downtown Brooklyn are among the lowest rates in New York City, with only two percent of all adults fully vaccinated against the virus.
New vaccination data by New York City zip code shows that the percentage is fully vaccinated up to 25% in wealthier, white neighborhoods (dark blue) but as low as 2% in poor minority neighborhoods (light blue)
These are the same zip codes hardest hit by the pandemic, with coronavirus infection rates as high as 7,600 cases per 100,000 (left) and death rates as high as 343 deaths per 100,000 people
The data found that seven percent of all Manhattan residents have been vaccinated with neighborhoods like Lincoln Square and Lenox Hill, reporting rates as high as 16 percent
Staten Island is the second most vaccinated neighborhood, with six percent of all residents getting both shots.
In the predominantly white Douglaston neighborhood of Queens, data shows that 20 percent of all adults are fully vaccinated.
And City Island, a neighborhood in the Bronx made up mostly of white residents, got 25 percent both shots.
Many of these areas have reported relatively low death rates from the coronavirus, according to city data, with about 163 deaths per 100,000.
However, rates in the South Bronx, parts of central Queens and central Brooklyn – mostly minority communities – are lagging.
Neighborhoods like Mott Haven, Bedford-Stuyvesant and South Jamaica report that only 2 percent of all adults are fully vaccinated.
The death rates from COVID-19 in these zip codes have been much higher with as many as 343 of every 100,000 people who have died from the disease.
“Just as we’ve seen a much smaller proportion of vaccines going to black and brown New Yorkers, we’re also seeing these geographic differences become apparent,” said Dr. Torian Easterling, chief equity officer of the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
In New York City, white residents are three times as likely to get the coronavirus vaccine as Latino residents and four times as likely than black residents
Vaccination coverage is in line with the population share of whites, but blacks and Latinos account for only 5.4% and 11.5% of vaccinations despite making up 12.5% and 19% of the U.S. population, according to CDC -data
De Blasio said he believes the recent opening of massive vaccination sites in Citi Field in Queens and Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, reserved for residents of those boroughs, will boost vaccination rates. In the photo: People queue up at a COVID-19 vaccination site at Citi Field, Feb. 10
The inequalities shed a spotlight on the introduction of vaccines, which New York Mayor Bill de Blasio said are “big” racial disparities.]
In New York City, white residents are three times more likely to get the coronavirus vaccine than Latino residents and four times as likely than black residents, the city’s demographics show.
But, according to CDC data, black and Latino Americans are about 1.5 times more likely to come into contact with the virus than white Americans and about three times more likely to die.
De Blasio said the low vaccination rates in minority communities are the result of a mix of mistrust and racial inequality.
“We have a lot of work to do,” he said on Tuesday.
“ Much of this is about underlying painful inequalities and inequalities to begin with. People with more privileges are best able to navigate this process. People who are more confident about the vaccine will put more effort into getting it. ‘
Easterling said more emphasis should be placed on vaccine education so that residents feel comfortable enough to take it.
He said two common complaints he hears are that the [vaccine causes fertility problems, and that it was the product of a rushed and unsafe scientific process.]
“The important thing is not only to gain trust around vaccines, but also to make our communities feel like we are here to really serve them,” Easterling said.
De Blasio said he believes the recent opening of massive vaccination sites in Citi Field in Queens and Yankee Stadium in The Bronx, reserved for residents of those boroughs, will boost vaccination rates.
‘This is about tackling inequality, doing something very tangible about it. This effort will not stop. We are going deeper and deeper into the communities to make sure there is equality, ”he said.
The mayor also said the city plans to use the one-time Johnson & Johnson vaccine for homebound seniors.
‘Then the Johnson & Johnson vaccine comes into play, that’s a single dose, it requires less cooling. It’s easier to use, easier to transport, ”he said.
‘We’re going to use that Johnson & Johnson vaccine to reach homebound seniors, literally medical staff, send trained people to individual apartments’
J&J have submitted clinical trial data for vaccines for emergency authorization, but the Food and Drug Administration is not expected to approve the injection until March.