COVID-19 vaccination rates are lagging for Blacks and Hispanics. Although they make up over 35% of Arizona’s population, they’ve received only 9% of the state’s vaccines.
There have been over 1 million doses of vaccine distributed in Arizona, but only 1.4% have gone to Black people and only 8.2% to Hispanics.
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Dr. Cara Christ heads the Arizona Department of Health Services. She says while the department is working on reaching underrepresented communities, she says the disparities are not a surprise at this point.
“Right now we don't anticipate that the race, ethnicity data would mirror that of the general population because we've been so targeted and prioritizing people pretty much based on their occupation,” said Christ.
Christ says the state is working on releasing a Spanish version of the appointment website in the coming days, as well as starting community-based vaccination centers so people in underserved areas don’t have to travel far.
