Joe Callahan, Ocala Star-Banner, Fla.
Marion County is not alone. This vaccination trend is occurring all across Florida and the United States.
Area officials say the vaccine disparity in communities of color is a result of many factors. Among them: hesitancy due to distrust, lack of reliable transportation and lack of reliable technology/internet access to make appointments.
Local Black leaders say that the disparity is not from a lack of trying. Three community outreach vaccination events have been held at Black churches around Ocala, and a fourth will be held March 18 in Reddick.
Some leaders suggest it is time, now that more vaccine has become available, to launch mobile vaccination events across Marion in underserved communities.
"We need to go into these underserved communities. especially the ones we haven't hit yet, like Fort McCoy," said Eric Cummings, a Marion County School Board member and
Data shows Marion has administered 65,590 first COVID-19 vaccine doses as of Wednesday. Marion County has 365,000 residents.
Of those, only 3,040 Black residents have gotten a vaccine, or 4.6%, according to Wednesday's report from the Florida Department of Health.
While 4.6% of local Black residents have gotten one of those first doses, Black residents make up 14% of Marion's reported COVID-19 cases, 18% of the hospitalizations and 12% of the deaths.
Data shows that 6% of Florida's Black residents, when compared to 16.9% of the state's population, and 7.1% of U.S. Black residents, when compared to 18.5% of the nation's population, have gotten at least their first vaccine dose.
The Florida Department of Health in Marion County has been working with area officials on events for underserved communities.
"The state tracks and monitors the race and ethnicity of people who receive the COVID-19 vaccine," said Mark Lander, administrator for the local health department. "It helps identify if certain groups may be underserved in vaccination efforts."
Lander, in an email interview, said "we have worked to provide vaccine specifically for outreach vaccination efforts in African-American communities, which have traditionally been underserved."
There also is a disparity when it comes to vaccinating the Hispanic community.
Data shows only 2,554 Hispanic residents have gotten a vaccine, or 3.9% of all those first doses, according to Florida Department of health statistics. Hispanic residents make up 14.1% of the Marion population.
While 3.9% of local Hispanic residents have gotten one of those first doses, Hispanic residents make up 16% of Marion County's reported COVID-19 cases, 10% of the hospitalizations and 8% of the deaths.
Data shows that 11.8% of Florida's Hispanic residents, when compared to 26.4% of the state's population, and 8.5% of U.S. Hispanic residents, when compared to 18.5% of the nation's population, have gotten at least their first vaccine dose.
More than 93 million people have gotten their first dose of the vaccine nationwide, while the state has administered 3.7 million first doses and Marion has administered 65,590.
Marion's non-Hispanic white population makes up 69.6% of the population, while 64.7% of all the county's vaccines have gone to that group. About 40,000 of all the COVID-19 vaccine doses, out 61,606, have gone to non-Hispanic white residents.
Florida's non-Hispanic whites make up 50.9% of the population, while those residents have received 55.9% of the vaccinations. The nation's non-Hispanic white population makes up 57.8%, while those citizens have received 65.5% of first doses.
But the numbers are not complete. Data shows that the race of 16.2% of the Marion County residents who received a vaccination, as well as 15.3% of the Florida residents who received their first dose, is listed as unknown.
Bishop J. David Stockton III, president of the local chapter of the NAACP and pastor of the Greater New Hope Church, says when the vaccine registration by phone launched in late December that many Black residents did not know until it was too late.
Stockton said that when the vaccines first arrived, many underserved communities received word late of the county's phone registration.
By the time the word spread to many low-income Black communities, the county had registered 50,000 people and shut down the registration process until the state created a registration database for older residents to call.
While vaccinating Black residents has lagged behind, Stockton said he doesn't fault the Florida Department of Health in Marion County. He said early on there was hesitancy among older Black residents.
Stockton suspects more Black residents have gotten shots than has been reported. He is basing that on the fact that he knows many people traveled out of county to get vaccinated, and that the race is listed as unknown for 16.2% of those who have gotten shots.
"At the beginning, they had a fear of the vaccine," he said.
Cummings said that fear quickly waned and then it was impossible for most people of any race to get an appointment. Cummings and Stockton teamed up with Tommy Brooks, pastor of New St. John Baptist Church, to work with county officials.
Both Cummings and Stockton said those vaccination events included people of all races, especially Black, Hispanic and other races.
The three men reached out to Lander and Preston Bowlin, Marion's emergency management director, on a plan to get shots into the arms of residents of color.
There have been three events at area Black churches — the three churches that Stockton, Cummings and Brooks represent. There is another planned for next Thursday in Reddick.
But the main barrier now is reliable transportation to get to the mass vaccination sites, as well as having affordable technology so people can get an appointment.
Stockton said the health department asked him and other leaders in the Black community to help fill 500 appointments that were set aside specifically for Black residents for the two-day mass vaccination event that was held earlier this week at the Florida Horse Park. The idea was to help get more people of color vaccinated.
"We had several people that we called to go to the horse park, and they said they didn't know where it was and said they would wait for the Reddick event," Stockton noted, adding many of those people were concerned about finding transportation.
Regardless, he said work needs to be done to get more Black residents to vaccination sites or get health professionals out to underserved communities. Stockton said the good news is that the local health department officials are listening.
"What it takes is to have everybody at the table," Stockton said. "I think sometimes we have the tendency to not to know the makeup of the county and the issues that some of our county residents face. I think that is the biggest challenge we have faced."
Stockton said he working hard not just for local Black residents, but people of color in all underserved communities. Cummings said he believes that the vaccine divide will be bridged now that more vaccine is coming in to the county.
Lander said everyone is working together to determine ways to reach out to the underserved communities. He pointed to a recent event at the city of Ocala's first responder campus where people were on hand to register older residents.
Lander said the agency will continue to "work with community leaders to identify opportunities to increase vaccinations."
— Contact Joe Callahan at 897-0307 or email him at joe.callahan@starbanner.com. Follow him on Twitter @JoeOcalaNews.
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