BOSTON (WHDH) - Local, state, and federal officials said they’re trying to address disparities that have led to white residents in Massachusetts getting more coronavirus vaccines despite living in communities that are not as hard-hit.
At a virtual roundtable Saturday, Sen. Ed Markey said that minority communities are seeing more cases of the virus, with Black residents having caseloads twice as high as white residents and Latino residents three times as high.
But white residents have had 13 times more doses of vaccine than Black residents and 16 times more doses than Latinos, Markey said.
“We cannot turn our back on the communities that are shouldering the burden of this pandemic,” Markey said.
Participants said underserved communities need more accessible sites, including language access at the sites and better internet access for community members to make appointments. Michael Curry, CEO of the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers, said accessibility and trust are major issues for minority communities, and local organizations need resources to address that.
“Those closest to the disease should be the closest to the vaccine. that’s the moment we’re in,” Curry said. “If anybody can walk into Brockton and convince Cape Verdean and Haitian residents to consider taking the vaccine, that’s the Brockton Area Health Center, just a few miles down the road from me right now.”
Congress is looking at $25 billion to focus solely on vaccine equity in the next coronavirus relief package, and the lawmakers are urging the federal department of health and human services to monitor and address any demographic disparities in the nationwide rollout of the vaccines.
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