Disparities – COOPER GENERAL NEWS

An El Paso Fire Department health worker administers the Moderna vaccine for coronavirus disease (COVID-19) at a vaccination center near the Santa Fe International Bridge in El Paso, Texas on May 7, 2021.

Jose Luis Gonzalez | Reuters

According to a new study released Tuesday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people in rural areas are receiving lower levels of Covid-19 vaccines than in urban areas, potentially boosting the country’s progress in ending the disease Pandemic hinders.

The CDC analyzed county-level vaccine administration data in American adults who received their first dose of the Pfizer BioNTech or Moderna Covid-19 vaccine or a single dose of the Johnson & Johnson Covid-19 vaccine. It examined data from 49 states and the District of Columbia through April 10.

The agency found, at 38.9% and 45.7%, respectively, a lower percentage of residents in rural districts who had received at least one shot than in urban districts. The CDC also found that people in rural areas who received a vaccine often had to travel farther to get it than people in urban areas.

“The hesitation of vaccines in rural areas is a major obstacle that doctors, health care providers and local partners must address in order to achieve equitable vaccination,” the CDC wrote in the report.

“As the availability of COVID-19 vaccines increases, public health doctors should continue to work with health care providers, pharmacies, employers, religious leaders and other partners in the community to identify and address barriers to COVID-19 vaccination in rural areas eliminate, “added the agency.

The new data comes as more studies have shown that rural residents may be more reluctant to get a vaccine. A report by the Kaiser Family Foundation published in April found that 3 out of 10 rural residents either “definitely won’t” get vaccinated or will only do so when needed.

CDC director Dr. Rochelle Walensky brought up the study before it was released Tuesday, saying the Biden administration was determined to reach communities “in every corner of the United States.”

The US is working to “ensure that access to vaccines is fair whether you live in rural or urban areas,” she said during a Covid-19 briefing at the White House. “Public health workers nationwide are working to provide trusted information through trusted messengers.”

Walensky said CDC employees attended the Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama last weekend, where U.S. health officials were doing Covid tests and vaccinations.

“We’re really making strides across the country to make sure people have access to vaccines,” she said.

Tuesday’s study did not calculate coverage by race and ethnicity, according to the CDC, because information about it was missing for 40% of the data.

“The zip code data not only provides a map of where New Yorkers will be vaccinated, but also a roadmap for our Covid response,” said Dr. Easterling.

Also on Tuesday, Governor Andrew M. Cuomo released data showing that white people were vaccinated more frequently than expected in every region across the state. But in most regions, blacks were vaccinated at about half the expected rate.

In New York City, for example, 58 percent of those vaccinated were white, while white people made up just 52 percent of the eligible population, according to the state. About 14.4 percent of those vaccinated were black, although more than 30 percent of the eligible population were black.

About 16 percent of people vaccinated in the city were Hispanic or Latino, but Hispanic or Latino make up about 24 percent of the eligible population, according to the state.

Experts say people across the country who live in underserved areas face a variety of barriers to vaccination, including registration systems and websites that can take hours to navigate, lack of transportation, and difficulty getting off work to get one Chance to get. Given the history of unethical medical research in the United States, many people in color communities are more reluctant to get vaccinated.

Mr de Blasio said Tuesday that a new vaccination site opened on Wednesday at Teachers Preparatory High School in Brownsville, Brooklyn, open six days a week, giving priority to home health workers and those living in Brownsville and East New York.

“This is about addressing inequality and doing something very tangible about it,” he said.

Another new vaccination site will open at the Empire Outlets in Staten Island on Thursday, he said.

The city vaccinated 317,227 people last week, including 55,339 people in one day, de Blasio said, adding that more than 10 percent of New Yorkers would now have received at least one dose. He said the city could vaccinate far more people each day if it could get more doses from the federal government.