Opinion: Detroit's Low Vaccination Rate Isn't Just About Black 'Hesitancy'
Last edited Mon Jun 21, 2021, 02:40 PM - Edit history (1)
By Micheline Maynard, Washington Post, June 18, 2021. - Excerpts, Ed.
Other places in the country may be hailing the end of covid-19 restrictions, thanks to vaccination successes such as the 70% rate for adults in New York state. Nobody is lighting end-of-covid celebratory fireworks in Detroit. There, just 36.8% of residents age 12 and up have received at least one shot. Like many other U.S. cities, Detroit was battered soon after the coronavirus began spreading last year and in subsequent waves. Detroiters thus could have been expected to rush for vaccinations once the shots became available this year. But that hasn’t happened. The city’s vaccination rate is 24% points below the latest statewide rate, and as much as 30 points below nearby counties. The rate in NYC is lower than the stellar New York statewide rate, but it’s still a robust 54% for all ages.
The explanation for lack of vaccine enthusiasm in Detroit, a 78.3% Black city, might appear simple: vaccine hesitancy and distrust of the health-care system, a historic factor that has been evident in urban areas with sizable African American populations. But other reasons make Detroit’s situation more complex, says Ken Haddad with WDIV-TV. He has spent months identifying where vaccination clinics are operating, even inviting followers to email him directly if they need to find one. Getting to the clinics isn’t simple for many people, though. Despite its Motor City reputation, about 1/4th of residents don’t own a vehicle. The carless instead rely on friends, public transportation and their feet to get places.
When Ford Field was turned into a vast vaccination clinic for 8 weeks this spring, about 275,000 people showed up- but most came in from the suburbs. Only about 7% were Detroit residents. Many Detroiters might not have been able to get there without difficulty, and many also might not have even known about the clinic. In Detroit 36% of residents don't have Internet access at home. Yet official covid messaging there has largely been done through live streams, social media, an online covid dashboard and news releases. But Haddad doesn’t fault the city, “They’ve thrown an enormous amount of resources and innovation at the issue.” The Detroit Tigers taped public service announcements and recently offered 2 free tickets for people to go to a vaccination clinic. Billboards are up, the city’s Good Neighbor program awards a $50 gift card for driving a friend to a clinic, and there are now vaccination spots in various parts of the city, and free rides abound.
It’s too bad many of these measures didn't come much sooner. Michigan simply can’t achieve its vaccine goals without Detroit. Gov. Whitmer (D) talked about reaching a 70% vaccination rate in residents age 16 and older by July 1, when statewide restrictions were supposed to lift. But she recently announced that restrictions will come off this Tuesday, even though Michigan is 10% points short of that goal. Detroit lately has been fortunate to track along with a general decline of new infections across the state. But the city's low vaccination rate could leave residents vulnerable to a spike that might occur as things loosen up. The situation is lamentable because Detroit, before the pandemic hit, was undergoing a fledgling renaissance following the the city's 2013 bankruptcy. Now, with covid variants spreading in the U.S., the Motor City could be facing yet another covid outbreak, unless more shots land in arms...
- Read also:
- Michele Norris: Black people are justifiably wary of a vaccine. Their trust must be earned.
- The Post’s View: Huge disparities in vaccination rates are creating islands of vulnerability across the country
- David A. Asch and Rachel M. Werner: Segregated hospitals are killing Black people. Data from the pandemic proves it.
- Uché Blackstock and Oni Blackstock: Here’s how to fix racial inequity in covid-19 vaccination
- Céline Gounder: Vaccines won’t save Michigan from its covid-19 surge
- Full Article, https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2021/06/18/detroit-covid-vaccination-rate-low/
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- Detroit offers $50 a shot to people who bring residents in for Covid vaccines.
https://www.bridgemi.com/michigan-health-watch/detroit-offers-50-shot-people-who-bring-residents-covid-vaccines
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