My colleagues and I looked at the percentage of non-Hispanic white residents in the census tracts of those states. There were about 15 of these that have them online. Ashley Lopez is a reporter with member station KUT in Austin, Texas. The Census Bureau provided demographic data per census tract. Learn more about NAMI Family Support Group. Choose one of the options below to find a class or program near you: For more upcoming programs and classes, please contact your local NAMI State Organization or NAMI Affiliate. "Thirty-five of the people we had registered are between the ages of 80 and 99. Copyright © 2021 NAMI. Thomas LaVeist, a dean and health care equity researcher at Tulane University in New Orleans, says medical deserts go back into the early evolution of health care. KING: So, Sean, Shalina and Ashley were looking in the southern part of the United States. Because of the need for a quick rollout, vaccination sites are largely dependent on the health care infrastructure already in place. An NPR analysis looked at COVID-19 vaccination sites in several large cities across the southern United States and found that those sites are more likely to be located in neighborhoods that have a higher percentage of white residents than the median neighborhood in the county. The effects of this gap, coupled with historical trust issues between Black Americans and health care providers, are already reflected in the nationwide data showing who's getting vaccinated. Basically, there's one cluster of providers there along the main highway and then hardly any other sites in the county. And a group of researchers at the West Health Policy Center and the University of Pittsburgh found that in hundreds of counties across the country, Black Americans were more likely than white Americans to live far away, 10 miles in a rural area and 1 mile in an urban area from a potential vaccination center. KING: Ashley Lopez is with member station KUT in Austin. Pwd=VW5YQURMVmU3YmVwNjJLSlZKRmJoUT 09. Copyright © 2021 NAMI. Rendi Murphree, director of the Bureau of Disease Surveillance and Environmental Services at the Mobile County Health Department, said it has been hard for the county to get any vaccines at all. "When you go to north Baton Rouge, there are very few [health care] choices. And Sean McMinn is a data editor at NPR. That didn't surprise Nichele Hoskins. NAMI We're going to talk more about these findings with the team that did the reporting. "It's been a struggle ever since the '70s," said Womack, president of the Africatown community group C.H.E.S.S. And FEMA is expected to create pop-up vaccination sites in underserved communities. That presents a challenge for public health officials who are relying on what's already in place to mount a quick vaccination campaign. That didn't surprise Nichele Hoskins. The Virginia Department of Health pointed to plans to deploy the National Guard to assist with vaccinations, as well as mass vaccination sites it set up at places like a convention center, a raceway complex and a vacated department store. It's actually the biggest category they have right now, and that's just not super helpful. That's why the Good Samaritan Health Center in Atlanta has been saving a handful of its vaccination appointments for people who might want to meet with a health care provider at the clinic to ask questions before rolling up their sleeves. ", "This is structural and foundational to the racial disparities in our country. Clark said members of the Stony Point community are still reeling from events a few years ago when the Sheriff's Department turned over roughly a dozen residents to Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation. And 19 out of 25 are located in the whiter and wealthier neighborhoods. And it's not just Black neighborhoods having trouble getting access. "Every day is potentially more lives lost," Patel said. Places such as pharmacies, clinics and hospitals make convenient sites for vaccines to be administered. You can look at a map and see that there are far fewer sites in areas with predominantly Black populations. And one of the places I saw the most disparity was in Baton Rouge in Louisiana. In more than 250 other U.S. counties, the researchers found, Black residents were less likely than white residents to live within 10 miles driving distance of a site. For example, I live in Austin. The following are trademarks of NAMI: NAMI, NAMI Basics, NAMI Connection, NAMI Ending the Silence, NAMI FaithNet, NAMI Family & Friends, NAMI Family Support Group, NAMI Family-to-Family, NAMI Grading the States, NAMI Hearts & Minds, NAMI Homefront, NAMI HelpLine, NAMI In Our Own Voice, NAMI On Campus, NAMI Parents & Teachers as Allies, NAMI Peer-to-Peer, NAMI Provider, NAMI Smarts for Advocacy, Act4MentalHealth, Vote4MentalHealth, NAMIWalks and National Alliance on Mental Illness. And the Biden administration has said they want to make sure immigrants, regardless of legal status, have access to the vaccine. Copyright 2021 NPR. "Public libraries (an important source of free wifi), community centers/park districts, faith-based organizations, barber/beauty shops. But as the Texas Tribune reported, when Dallas County tried to take it a step further by prioritizing ZIP codes where mostly Blacks and Hispanics live, state officials threatened to withhold doses. KING: OK, so the CDC is aware of this, which makes me wonder, are there any commitments from public health officials to get vaccines into neighborhoods where people of color live? So when we say it's a whiter neighborhood, what we really mean is that it's one that has a higher percentage of white residents compared to the county's median census track. "In order to get people vaccinated, you're going to have to have that kind of trust," Hoskins said, noting it can seem a tedious process. KING: OK, so a cascade of problems. "We're hopeful there will be new facilities that are stood up," says Dr. Utibe Essien, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of Pittsburgh who studies health disparities and worked on the research team. Shivani Patel, a researcher tracking COVID-19 health equity issues at Emory University in Atlanta, is quick to acknowledge that the problem is too large for a state's public health system to solve on its own. The reasons are both unique to each place and common across the region: The health care locations that are logical places to distribute a vaccine tend to be located in the more affluent and whiter parts of town where medical infrastructure already exists. And Sean McMinn is a data editor at NPR. Now you tell me, how am I supposed to pick?". But we wanted to know where vaccination sites are located. Shalina Chatlani is with member station WWNO in New Orleans. Think about places like clinics and hospitals. Is what's going on there happening in the rest of the country? And now I'm ready to be vaccinated,' " said Breanna Lathrop, the clinic's chief operating officer. If they were receiving vaccinations equally relative to their share of the population, it would be more than double that. KING: Sean, I want to begin with you. MCMINN: Unfortunately, there's no way to know for sure. 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