Lack of walk-up option stirs complaints site isn’t equitable
The region’s largest COVID vaccine site — created to cater to vulnerable communities in 35 ZIP codes — is drive-thru-only, a process that frustrated some observers as health officials work to balance better access to shots, huge demand and the need to inoculate as many people as fast as possible.
Opened Wednesday, the vaccination site at NRG Park is accessible only by automobile, Harris County officials said.
“We want to operate at full speed — 6,000 vaccines a day — and the only way to reach that number safely in the very limited amount of time we’ve had to set up the site is via drive-thru,” said Rafael Lemaitre, spokesman for Harris County Judge Lina Hidalgo. “Unfortunately, a
walk-up option at that particular site would significantly cut into the number of people we’re able to provide vaccines for overall.”
Critics, however, said requiring an automobile is counterproductive to correcting existing disparities in how vaccines are distributed.
“It makes no sense to focus on those ZIP codes and not have an option for people who don’t have a car,” Houston At-Large Councilmember Leticia Plummer said. “To deny them access, simply because they do not have an automobile, is against the idea of equitable access.”
Federal officials are paying for and helping operate the mass vaccination site at NRG Park for at least eight weeks. Houston Health Department and Harris County Public Health are working with FEMA, in the hopes of vaccinating 126,000 people over the next eight weeks.
The decision to focus solely on drive-thru shots leaves folks such as Sam Stamport out of the mix. Stamport, 65, lives in southwest Houston but does not own a car to easily arrive at his Saturday appointment.
“I thought NRG was chosen because several Metro routes are nearby,” Stamport wrote in a social media post.
The Red Line light rail route runs along the east side of NRG Park, with a centralized stop. The stop is one station down from where the Red Line connects to some of the region’s larger bus routes including the Alameda, Lyons and Bellfort routes. The Route 84 Buffalo Speedway bus runs along the western side of NRG Park.
Lemaitre said while the county does realize people are going to need options, officials are keeping NRG as a drive-thru. The solution for those without automobile transportation, he said, is to move the appointment.
“They can call us and be offered their appointment at another location that is closer to them, including perhaps one of our four other large sites or two mobile sites or federally qualified health center where we are delivering vaccines,” Lemaitre said.
‘You can’t make it perfect’
Critics countered that seemed inconsistent with all of the claims of NRG Park being a major resource for low-income residents.
“You set up a site for people who are struggling and then make it so you have to own a car to use it; it makes no sense,” said Curtis Jansen, 56, a frequent transit rider. “If I had a car, I could drive out to Pearland or wherever and get the vaccine.”
LINK Houston, which advocates for better mobility options for vulnerable communities, urged county and FEMA officials to redesign the NRG Park process. Specifically, Executive Director Oni Blair, said the group wants NRG and all sites for vaccination to offer walk-up options that are closely located to the transit stops, with bicycle parking.
The challenge of balancing best ways to distribute the vaccine with widespread demand is an ongoing discussion within the medical and policy realms, said Claire Horner, a clinical ethicist and professor at Baylor College of Medicine. The aim of any policy is to make sure everyone has equal access to the vaccine, but certain considerations might make some sites targeted to specific recipients.
“You cannot accommodate everyone every time,” Horner said. “You can’t make it perfect at every site.”
Options under consideration
The measure is whether everyone across the community has an equal chance at the vaccine, she said. That likely requires communities to develop systems that rely on multiple options, both mass vaccination sites such as NRG and smaller neighborhood-based locations.
“You need to be in the communities, working with the communities,” Horner said. “You need to be where the people are.”
Officials also must connect with people when and how they are most effectively reached, not how it is easiest for the officials, Horner said. Smartphone applications and web forms, for example, can be effective for certain segments of the population but may have a tougher time reaching poor seniors. Horner noted one of the stumbles of early vaccine access in the Houston area was that waiting list information was quickly finding its way to Twitter, allowing the tech-savvy a leg up.
“Something as simple as that can really affect who gets it and who does not,” Horner said.
A solution at NRG for transit riders remains elusive but also under consideration. Plummer said officials still are working through the details of possibly relying on Metropolitan Transit Authority or another provider to offer a van that could take people who arrive by transit, bicycle or on foot through the line.
Metropolitan Transit Authority officials said they are prepared to assist Houston and Harris County with transportation needs, similar to efforts in San Antonio, where VIA Metropolitan Transit is driving vaccine recipients to the mass distribution site at the Alamodome. Rides are free the day of a valid COVID vaccine appointment in San Antonio.
Similar programs were established for other sites in the Houston area, but not NRG.
“Our access and equity vaccine strategy includes making vaccine available at the community level by partnering with clinics and pharmacies in directly vulnerable communities,” Houston Health Department officials said in a statement. “As supply increases, we will also offer vaccine directly in vulnerable communities via mobile units.”
Plummer said such considerations need to be made long before vaccination sites open.
“This should be a part of the discussion, absolutely,” Plummer said. “It is something we should be able to figure out and apply everywhere.”