vaccine equity

The emergence of the new omicron variant and the world’s desperate and likely futile attempts to keep it at bay are reminders of what scientists have warned for months: The coronavirus will thrive as long as vast parts of the world lack vaccines

To help boost the rate of vaccination in underserved communities, New York City will now offer financial incentives to those who get their first COVID-19 vaccine shot at a SOMOS-run vaccine site. New Yorkers who are vaccinated at one of 2,800 SOMOS physicians’ offices across the five boroughs are eligible for the $100 vaccine incentive that has been most recently…

The incentive calls for any children in the 5 to 11 age group who gets vaccinated to be part of a pool in which the state will select 50 names of children who will receive a full ride to a SUNY or CUNY institution for college. NBC New York’s Anjali Hemphill reports.

Some highly active vaccine clinics are far away from communities of color. Doses aren’t being distributed at a level that reflects the greater COVID-19 dangers for people in those communities. Epidemiologist Camara Phyllis-Jones breaks down the issue and says “we can dismantle this system.”

Many more white people than Black people have been vaccinated for the coronavirus both in the city of Philadelphia, and across Pennsylvania.

With the first batches of the COVID-19 vaccine now being distributed in the U.S., a major priority is ensuring that everyone has access to it, especially people of color. Jennifer Gardy, deputy director for the Gates Foundation, joined LX News to discuss the roots of health disparities as well as the history of the Black community’s distrust in the health...