A group of experts, including Julia Ryan, LISC’s VP for Health Programs, gathered for a webinar hosted by U.S. News & World Report, to offer insight and solutions to tackling disparities in COVID vaccination distribution.
The excerpt below was originally published:
How the U.S. Can Increase Lagging Vaccination Rates
By Zoya Wazir, U.S. News
Although the U.S. ranks No. 7 in the world for vaccine distribution, with about 48% of its population fully vaccinated against COVID-19, significant regions of the country are being hit hard by the virus because of resistance to the vaccines or inequitable distribution of them to underserved populations, particularly Hispanic and Black communities.
To bridge these disparities in vaccine distribution and tackle the country's rising case numbers from the spread of the delta variant, experts say public health leaders must take an all-hands-on-deck approach to making vaccines more accessible while also addressing the hesitancy in taking the vaccine and misinformation surrounding it. A panel of experts shared their perspectives on and solutions to addressing these challenges during a U.S. News & World Report webinar this week as part of the Community Health Leadership Forum, a virtual event series focused on improving community health across the country.
Arkansas is an "epicenter at this point for the delta variant surge in the nation," Dr. José Romero, secretary of the Arkansas Department of Health, said during the webinar. The state currently has one of the highest number of new cases per capita in the U.S. along with one of the lowest vaccination rates in the country with about 35% of its population fully vaccinated, according to data from Johns Hopkins University.
The panelists agreed that the cost of this pandemic will be far greater if a significant portion of unvaccinated Americans do not get their shots as soon as possible. Romero expressed concern about the approaching reopening of schools for the 2021-22 academic year, considering that many states (including Arkansas) have prohibited school districts from mandating that students wear masks.
"We actually, last year, kept our schools open and did so successfully – and that was in part because we had these physical distancing, physical barriers for spread and didn't see large outbreaks," Romero said. "I expect to see this year significant outbreaks within the school system, and what's already telling me that that's going to happen are the number of day care closures that have occurred because of outbreaks occurring and the camp exposures and closures that are occurring."
In addressing the low vaccination rate in certain communities around the U.S., the resounding message from the panelists was that vaccine accessibility is about more than just increasing vaccine availability.
"If you don't have paid sick leave, if you don't have health insurance and you're concerned about potentially having some health care expense arise from your vaccination – those are very real issues that are playing out disproportionately in lower-income communities and communities of color," said Julia Ryan, vice president of health initiatives at LISC (Local Initiatives Support Corporation), a nonprofit community development organization.