(Photo by CDC on Unsplash)
Health Dept. data: Brooklyn has lowest vaccination rates in the city
Newly released data by zip code from all five boroughs reveal racial and economic iniquities in coronavirus vaccine distribution
The New York City Department of Health has released data revealing significantly lower vaccination rates in Bed-Stuy and other Brooklyn neighborhoods relative to Manhattan.
This week’s data release breaks down the percentage of residents who have received one or both vaccination shots broken down by zip code. While only 3 percent of residents have had a single vaccination shot (with 2 percent fully vaccinated) in Bed Stuy’s 13323 zip, 10 percent of residents within the 10075 zip code of the Upper East Side have gotten a single shot, with 17 percent being fully vaccinated. Overall, the data shows that Brooklyn has the lowest vaccination rate of the five boroughs.
The vaccination data continues to demonstrate how communities of color have been disproportionately affected by the pandemic. The Brooklyn Reader notes that “in New York City, 58 percent of those vaccinated were white and 14.4 percent Black; this is despite white people making up 52 percent of the eligible population and Black people comprising 30 percent.”
These inequities come even after Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the formation of a Equity Task Force at the end of January, during which he stated that “we are going even further to ensure the vaccine reaches everyone, equally.” His plan sought to specifically target thirty-three neighborhoods (nine from Brooklyn) around the city that “have borne the brunt of Covid-19.”
In an effort to make up for some disparities in the data, a new vaccination site is set to open at Teachers Preparatory High School in Brownsville. De Blasio explained that, “This is about addressing inequality, [and] doing something very tangible about it.”
In the meantime, it is community organizations that have been stepping up to vaccinate the most vulnerable.
