Conn. inner cities still behind in vaccination rates
Despite attempts to reach hard hit communities, Connecticut’s inner cities still fall behind in vaccination rates.
Providers and community leaders say barriers to getting more Black and Hispanic residents vaccinated has been two-fold — access and education.
Access to the vaccines has been limited for many because of bottlenecks in the registration system, transportation to clinics and the supply itself.
Providers, public officials and state leaders have talked extensively about the need to bolster vaccinations in communities of color, especially since they’ve been torn apart by the pandemic but also have reported the most vaccine hesitancy.
To help address vaccine hesitancy in the Black community, Gov. Ned Lamont made a show of receiving his inoculation last month at the state’s largest predominantly Black church, joined there by Black religious leaders and elected officials from the community.
Lamont and the state Department of Public Health recently committed 25 percent of vaccine supply to 50 key areas to bolster vaccinations in vulnerable populations.
The list includes much of Bridgeport, New Haven, Danbury, Hartford, Waterbury, New Britain, Derby and East Hartford, along with swaths of West Haven, Stamford, Ansonia, Norwalk and other municipalities.
The state’s capital and Bridgeport both rank at the very bottom for percentage of first doses administered to their populations, according to DPH data from Feb. 23. In both cities, less than 8 percent of the population has received a first dose of the vaccine. Waterbury, Danbury and New Haven also all ranked toward the bottom.
“Our communities are lacking all the time, and the state has to do a better job of making sure cities get resources,” said Pastor William McCullough, head of the Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance of Greater Bridgeport. “We need more vaccines. Our people are impacted hugely, more than any other in the state.”
McCullough said the supply just isn’t there. Even as he tried to make an appointment for a second dose, no dates were available.
“It’s not because people don’t want it — it’s because people can’t get it,” he said.
Yale New Haven Health is tackling these barriers by dedicating multiple vans to churches and community centers to act as mobile vaccination sites. They started in New Haven and are beginning soon in Bridgeport, said Dr. Victor Morris, chief medical officer of Bridgeport Hospital.
Through the YNHH call center, people from the designated zip codes are directed to specific vaccination sites that have reserved slots for area residents, he said.
Samuel Diaz III, the chief strategy officer for Southwest Community Health Center, said the state is making great strides, but multi-language communication and reliable internet access to make appointments are two reasons more people of color struggle with access.
To help reach more critical communities, Diaz said the health center has been blocking out appointment times for Bridgeport residents and have talked about setting up registration days to help people make appointments.
But access only matters if people are willing to take their dose, so the health center and YNHH have partnered with local faith groups to spread the word on safety.
“We could put clinics door to door, but if they don’t want to get it, it’s not much good,” Morris said. “You can have the smartest doctor say it’s safe, but people trust those in their community.”
McCullough and other faith leaders are making education on vaccination a priority because of the distrust in the Black community that goes back decades.
“I think there's been progress,” McCullough said. “I think it’s helping some people, maybe not to the extreme we want it to, but there’s some increase in people’s willingness. Education is a key to liberation, and so is making sure we have the knowledge and information to make that choice.”