Now, let’s take a look at communities with a higher mortality rate and whether or not these neighborhoods get the vaccine.
SEE ALSO: Houston residents “suffer” in low-income minority areas without vaccines
Our investigation found that a dozen zip codes east of downtown Houston have a mortality rate of more than 151 deaths per 100,000 population, but the overall vaccination rate for these communities is 4.5%.
We wanted to look at where vaccines go and found 40% of Harris County zip codes, where the mortality rate is not as high – with less than 150 deaths per 100,000 population – and yet there is a higher percentage of the population. . vaccinated. Disparities are the reason why doctors and clinics advocate for vaccination program leaders to introduce vaccines in neighborhoods versus mass vaccination sites.
“We need them here. We have people dying of COVID, the Hispanic population, African Americans, low-income and low-income people are here in Harris’ health. We need them here,” said Glorimar Medina, executive vice president. of Harris Health Care Outpatient Services last month.
INTERACTIVE: Want to know which communities have a higher mortality rate but fewer vaccinated people? Explore the map for those details broken down by zip code. On the mobile device? Click here for a full screen experience.
Dr. Erica Villalobos, a doctor at the HOPE Aldine Clinic, said in her neighborhood that sometimes residents do not have access to transportation, the Internet or other resources needed to sign up for a vaccine and receive a dose.
“The risk of not continuing access to the vaccine is still an increased risk of COVID infection and giving in to the serious complications associated with COVID, including death,” she said.
In the postal code 77039 where her clinic is located, the mortality rate is 109.2 deaths per 100,000 inhabitants and only 2.7% of residents were vaccinated, according to an analysis of data from the city.
There are more than 28,000 residents living in that neighborhood, but only 600 vaccines have been allocated since the state began issuing the vaccines nine weeks ago. The HOPE Aldine clinic has been approved by the state to provide the vaccine, but they have not yet received any dose.
“We all want what is best for the community and what is best for the community right now is to be able to vaccinate,” Villalobos said.
At the county level, 3,081 inhabitants died due to COVID-19. The city and county provide daily information on the number of deaths in each zip code.
Vaccine data at the zip code for Houston and Harris County are not available on the city or county website. The most recent data we received on the number of vaccinated residents in each zip code was current until February 4, 2021.
The data gap offers some limitations to our analysis. As of this week, 351,391 residents of Harris County have received at least one dose of vaccine and 126,632 are fully vaccinated.
We only received data on how many people were vaccinated by zip code for 67% of vaccinated residents in Harris County.
The state said it would like the agencies to collect better vaccination data. For example, race and ethnicity data for 40% of Texas residents who received a vaccine are unknown. It is easy in Harris County, where race and ethnicity are unknown to only 28% of vaccinated residents.
“[It] it makes it difficult to know if the entities really reach those communities, “said Dr. David Lakey, a member of the Texas Vaccine Allocation Expert Committee.
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