Reply to Equity in vaccine distribution

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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]Wow--today's Post on the mismanaged vaccine rollout includes commentary about vaccince allocated to clinics for the underserved in the city. I see the funding boondoggle. At the end of the day, these agencies goals are not'outreach' or 'service'--it's just to perpetuate their own structures and paychecks. Ugh.  If DC can't figure out efficient outreach and vaccinations through the very apparatus that claims to 'know the community' and receive funding towards that end, then that vaccine should be withdrawn from them and given out first-come/ first-serve at mass vaccination events. Shame on you Ms. Smith for your cynical defense of mismanaged resources! Shame on the city for zero oversight!

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/vaccines-coronavirus-dc-virginia-maryland/2021/04/03/d63b7aa4-9303-11eb-9668-89be11273c09_story.html

"Finally, D.C. made choices about how to use the shots it did receive, which resulted in lower immediate usage of the doses. As residents of Whiter, wealthier neighborhoods have greatly outpaced poorer, majority-Black neighborhoods in vaccination rates, the city chose to allocate less than half of its doses to its citywide registration portal — where most available appointments are snapped up instantly by people savvy enough to navigate the system and eager to get vaccinated — and send the rest to hospitals, nonprofit health clinics and special programs such as clinics at churches and public housing buildings designed to reach poorer residents.

Tamara Smith, who represents the nonprofit health clinics as president of the D.C. Primary Care Association, said clinics have not shared the experience of some corners of the region, where people are keen to get vaccinated. Their clientele, who are mostly low-income people of color, are often ill-informed about the shots and are unaware that they qualify.

[b]Of the nearly 39,000 doses that the clinics have received from the city and 5,600 from the federal government, they’ve used just over half so far, Smith said.[/b] The rest won’t go to waste — most clinics have not wasted a single shot — but [b]they might sit on shelves for longer before the clinics can put them to use.[/b]

“The reason these federal government doses are coming to the health centers is so we can reach individuals that are disproportionately underrepresented. [b]Yes, you could get it out to all the 25-year-olds that are White from affluent communities. They’d line up and get it. That’s not helping[/b],” Smith said. “We really want to reserve the doses that the health centers are getting for people of color, immigrants, low-income folks. That’s the strategy.”

Smith said some clinics have also struggled to find extra nurses available for hire or to fit patients in their small spaces while observing social distancing. Months into the vaccine rollout, some clinics are still trying to find bigger venues that they can use and to recruit volunteers to help vaccinate. “[b]They all got significant funding[/b]. Now it’s about logistics and space and staffing,” Smith said. [b]“They are all planning significant ramp-up strategies.”[/b][/quote]

this made my blood boil. they’ve had MONTHS and are just now ramping up? health centers sitting on doses need to demonstrate they are making serious, proactive attempts to get their clients in, or give the doses back. This is a travesty they are going to blame on “vaccine hesitancy” instead of their own incompetence. [/quote]

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