COVID-19 vaccination data says a lot

This is the kind of COVID-19 vaccination data we need.

Maricopa County released a new dashboard on Feb. 11 that tracks who has been vaccinated by age, race and ethnicity and ZIP code. It will be updated weekly, with new numbers posted on Wednesdays.

This kind of information is essential if we want to understand not only how quickly we are getting shots into arms, but how well those efforts are reaching the most vulnerable.

Let’s hope the state — which reports far less about who’s getting the vaccine — is taking notes.

The dashboard tells us that nearly 430,000 people in Maricopa County — about 12% of residents — have received one or more doses, and that more than 121,000 of those folks — or 28% — were over 75.

It also shares the percentage of people who have been vaccinated within key groups. It’s unclear how the county is calculating those who are eligible, and that’s something officials should clarify quickly. We need the raw data as well as percentages.

But presuming the calculations are solid, it suggests vaccines have reached nearly 44% of those over 75 — data the county is using to extend eligibility at its vaccination sites to those 65 and older (previously, only the state sites allowed it).

The dashboard also reveals that while vaccination rates for Black and Latino residents lag others — at roughly 5% and 2% of those populations, respectively — nearly 16% of Indigenous residents have been vaccinated, compared to 9% of white residents.

Meanwhile, ZIP code data suggest that fewer eligible people have been vaccinated in lower-income areas in Phoenix and Mesa than those in higher-income areas in Scottsdale and Chandler.

Less than 15% of those who are eligible have received a first dose in the central Phoenix ZIP code 85009, the county reports, even if it borders one of the county’s major vaccination sites at the state fairgrounds. Yet if the county’s count is accurate, 102% of those eligible have received a shot in the north Scottsdale ZIP code 85255.

The county is planning to push doses to more pharmacies and create pop-up clinics, particularly in underserved areas. It also recently opened a sixth Point of Dispensing site at Grand Canyon University that is close to transit and serves people who walk or arrive by rideshare.

That’s smart, considering that the county is reporting less than 50% of those eligible for a vaccine in nearby ZIP codes have gotten one. But it’s a similar situation in the ZIP codes near the fairgrounds.

If improved access boosts participation near the GCU site, the fairgrounds also should consider some sort of walkup service, or perhaps door-to-door scheduling for those who lack a computer to make the necessary appointment.

This is the kind of data we need to see if interventions like these work.

Aside from clarifying how it calculated who’s eligible, the county should report how many people in each priority group — such as teachers, law enforcement or health care workers — have been vaccinated. Officials also should make it easier to track changes on the dashboard over time.

But this is an important first step, and Maricopa County deserves props for attempting it.