As California pushes to vaccinate more people and to ensure that the shots are equitably distributed, state data since mid-April show that in the Bay Area’s biggest counties, the number of people getting vaccinated is growing more slowly in poorer areas than in middle and higher-income neighborhoods.
Amid a chaotic vaccine rollout that left some hard-hit communities behind, Gov. Gavin Newsom in early March set aside 40% of the state’s vaccine allotment for areas identified as among California’s most vulnerable. In mid-April, the state began releasing weekly data on the percentage of the population vaccinated by ZIP code.
But the numbers from April 14 through May 4 indicate progress among poorer communities has been slower in Santa Clara and Alameda counties, even with eligibility expanded to everyone age 16 and older and vaccine supplies expanding and exceeding demand in many areas.
In Alameda County, the 94621 ZIP code around the Oakland Coliseum and Oakland International Airport is among those the state identified as a vaccine priority, being in the lowest quartile of the Healthy Places Index with median household income of $42,563. In mid-April, 44% of its 25,000 residents age 16 and older were vaccinated. That rate grew 8 percentage points to 52% by early May, just over half the population.
By contrast, in the 94551 ZIP code in the Livermore area, where the $118,967 median household income is more than twice as high and the vaccination rate of 46% was similar in mid-April, vaccinations increased by 13 percentage points in early May, when 59% of its 37,000 residents over age 16 had gotten a shot.
Neetu Balram, Alameda County’s spokeswoman, said the county is moving away from mass vaccination sites and shifting to localized efforts, such as pop-up and mobile vaccination clinics that can operate at different hours and help younger people who have a harder time traveling to get a shot or scheduling around their work hours. The county also will concentrate outreach and resources on communities that have been hardest hit by the pandemic.
The data paint a similar picture in Santa Clara County. In the 95116 ZIP code, which includes East San Jose’s Five Wounds and Mayfair neighborhoods and where the median household income is $65,667, 43% of its 43,000 residents age 16 and older were vaccinated in mid-April. Three weeks later, that figure had grown 14 percentage points to 57%.
But the increase was much faster in the 95134 ZIP code in North San Jose near the Cisco Systems campus with a median household income of $150,131, more than twice that of East San Jose. In mid-April, 50% of its 25,000 residents age 16 and older were vaccinated, a figure that rocketed 24 percentage points to 74% by early May.
Reymundo Espinoza, CEO of Gardner Health Services, said it’s “awful” that vaccination rates in central and East San Jose trail behind other areas. Since the federal government recommended a now-rescinded “pause” on J&J vaccine due to health concerns, he said interest in getting the shots at Gardner’s community clinic at the Mexican Heritage Plaza has dropped.
And while there are still barriers such as the ability to take off work and lack of transportation to appointments for some residents, there’s more supply and availability than ever to help them, Espinoza said. In East San Jose, promotoras continue to canvass hard-hit neighborhoods to sign people up directly.
“It makes me feel like we need to do more to get out there to people and try to convince them,” Espinoza said.
Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, Santa Clara County’s COVID-19 testing and vaccine officer, acknowledged that the county still has ground to make up in closing racial disparities. While 70% of the population has had at least one of what is often a two-dose vaccine regimen, just 45% of the Latino population has had a shot. The 95116 ZIP code is majority Latinx.
“We know it’s more of a challenge in the Latinx community, which has been heavily impacted by the virus itself,” Fenstersheib said. “We’ve been spending most of our time going to the community, we’ve pivoted away from assuming everybody is going to be able to get to one of our mass vaccination sites.”
Smaller Bay Area counties haven’t seen such a split between richer and poorer areas. In San Mateo County’s 94063 ZIP code, a Redwood City neighborhood straddling Highway 101 where the median household income is $77,166, the 55% vaccination rate in mid-April jumped 12 percentage points to 67% according to the latest numbers.
That was faster than higher-income areas like the 94019 ZIP code, which includes Half Moon Bay and the Peninsula coast, with a median household income of $136,758. The 53% vaccination rate there grew only about 7 percentage points to 60% by early May.
Dr. Anand Chabra, San Mateo County’s COVID-19 vaccination chief, said pop-up clinics in Redwood City received a greater proportion of supply than they would have had the county been more flush with doses, allowing for bigger gains in the surrounding neighborhoods.
“Because of the limited supply, we were actually saying, ‘The community clinics are just for the community,’” Chabra said. “With big supply … it probably will disproportionately benefit those with easy transportation and flexible hours to go to a mass vaccination site. While that’s a great thing, it definitely is more of a benefit to those with resources.”
In Contra Costa County, the 94513 ZIP code that includes Brentwood, with a median household income of $108,243, saw one of the fastest growth rates in vaccination, up 9 percentage points from 60% to 69%. But the 94801 ZIP code in Richmond, also among those the state identified as a vaccine priority, where median household income is almost half as high at $56,582, grew at the same rate from 54% to 63%.
Contra Costa County’s chief equity officer Gilbert Salinas said that because the county opened up eligibility to those 50 and older in late March, the county’s curve of demand and supply is several weeks ahead of its neighbors, making for less progress since mid-April. Over the past few weeks, the county has expanded hours and walk-ups at different sites to contend with slowing demand.
Gilbert credits the progress in hard-hit Richmond neighborhoods to a barrage of mobile clinics the county put there but said that reaching the last rounds of people in the coming weeks will be challenging. The county plans to launch a school-based vaccination campaign and circle back with mobile sites.
“This is a new stage of our vaccination campaign, where most anyone that’s eligible can get vaccinated,” Salinas said. “Our major issues in the coming weeks will be to emphasize that, or trying to persuade people, or educate folks that might have concerns about the vaccine, or that are not motivated to get the vaccine.”
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COVID: Data show California vaccination rates growing slowly in many lower-income areas - Red Bluff Daily News
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