SAN FRANCISCO (AP) – Teresa Parada is just the kind of like-minded California officials who say they want to get vaccinated: She’s a retired factory worker who speaks little English and lives in a hard-hit part of Los Angeles County.
But Parada, 70, has waited weeks while others her age flock to Dodger Stadium or get the coronavirus through major hospital networks. The place where she normally receives medical care, AltaMed, is now getting just enough supplies to vaccinate her later this month.
Parada said TV reports show people lining up to take shots, but “I only see vaccines going to Anglos.”
‘It is rare that I see a Latino there for the vaccine. When is it our turn? ” she said.
Gavin Newsom has repeatedly called equity its “North Star” for vaccinating a diverse state of nearly 40 million people. He worked with the federal government to set up massive vaccination centers in working-class neighborhoods in Oakland and Los Angeles. And it’s a big part of why he commissioned insurer Blue Shield to centralize California’s patchwork vaccination system by asking the Kaiser Permanente hospital chain for help.
Still, officials at community health centers serving as a safety net for the US poor, focused on health equality, say they are not getting enough doses for their patients – the high-risk residents the state needs to vaccinate.
In California, nearly 1,400 such centers provide 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 use Medicaid, which is known in California as Medi-Cal. Many of their clients speak a language other than English, work long hours, have no transport and want to go to the medical providers they trust.
Dr. Efrain Talamantes, chief operating officer of AltaMed Health Services, said it was discouraging to see the first doses going elsewhere while his patients continued to test positive for the virus.
“Anytime there is a limited resource, there is a clear disparity,” he said.
Most states are looking for ways to distribute the limited vaccine supply, resulting in a medley of methods in the absence of a federal plan. Tennessee is one of the states that provides doses based on the county population, while California divides them by eligible groups, including teachers and farm workers. Free-for-everyone allows people with the most resources to score scarce vaccinations.
Dr. Kirsten Bibbins-Domingo, chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco, said it seems obvious that the best strategy for bringing vaccines to hard-hit communities is to turn to to the places where residents already end up. care. But managers of large boxes tend to view community centers as less efficient due to their smaller size, she said.
“We are not very imaginative in the way we deliver vaccines efficiently. Our only creative solutions are to build massive vaccination sites, and maybe give people preferential access to those sites, ”she said.
As California has stepped up vaccination efforts through mobile and pop-up clinics in churches, workplaces, and schools, state data shows how relatively few shots have been fired at Latinos and Blacks compared to their populations.
African Americans have received 3% of the vaccine doses, while they make up 6% of the state. Latinos, who make up 39% of the state, received 17% of the doses.
Blue Shield officials say they plan to keep open health centers that are already administering vaccines, but the clinics fear they won’t be getting enough doses.
State vaccine spokesman Darrel Ng said the governor’s plan for equitable vaccination includes setting aside vaccines for “disproportionately affected communities and ensuring providers serving those communities are part of the network.” He said in a statement that it also includes sending mobile clinics to places such as black churches.
Andie Martinez Patterson, vice president of government affairs at the California Primary Care Association, said that while large-scale health systems can vaccinate people quickly, they are unlikely to reach their intended residents.
Community health centers have been working hard to convince their patients to take the injection, said Alexander Rossel, chief executive of Families Together of Orange County, adding that his center has vaccinated 95 percent of its patients 65 and older.
Health centers watched in dismay as vaccine for health workers initially went to larger hospitals in December. Then they watched as more affluent, internet-savvy English speakers with time to navigate web portals and travel long distances for appointments flocking to vaccination arenas.
When Orange County began opening large-scale vaccination centers in mid-January, community health centers also asked for doses, said Isabel Becerra, CEO of the Coalition of Orange County Community Health Centers.
‘We don’t have transportation. We don’t speak english. We do not understand the technology you ask us to use to register you and queue. So, can we vaccinate the population of 65 and older in the comfort of their own facilities? ” she said.
Jodie Wingo, interim chairman of the community health organization for Riverside and San Bernardino counties, said the member clinics are scaling up to inoculate more of their 500,000 patients. But now they only get a few dozen doses at a time.
“Everyone works for equality, but it doesn’t look fair. Not at all, ”she said.
AltaMed, in Los Angeles and Orange counties, recently started receiving 3,000 doses per week from the two counties. Thanks to the stock, customers like Parada, who is originally from Mexico, should get her vaccine this month.
AltaMed will send a vehicle to take her to a clinic for the shot that will protect her when she heads out to shop for the family wearing a double mask.
‘I’m the one who has to go out. I have to protect myself, ”she said.