BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Black and Latinx residents in Suffolk County have been experiencing racial inequality with COVID-19 vaccination access.
According to a Boston Globe study, less than “14 percent of Black residents and roughly 26 percent of Latinos live in census tracts that are within 1 mile of a vaccination site, compared with nearly 46 percent of white residents.”
While there are over 150 COVID-19 vaccination sites across Massachusetts, there is only one public vaccination site in Suffolk County—at the South Boston Health Center.
The nearest mass vaccination site for these residents is at Fenway Park and is going to open Feb. 1 for prioritized groups.
Dinanyili Paulino, the chief operating officer of the Chelsea-based nonprofit La Colaborativa said that “the challenge is that our members—our families—don’t have money to travel.”
Paulino said that she believes there should be more accessibility since some residents in Suffolk County don’t have 50 cents to ride the bus. Rather, since Suffolk County is the epicenter of the state, “they should come to us.”
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Suffolk County spreads over Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop and is one of the state’s most populous and diverse counties according to US Census data. The county has over 800-thousand residents and 24.3% are Black and 23.3% are Hispanic.
The Baker Administration has ensured the public that more vaccination sites will be rolled out starting next week which may improve accessibility. These new sites will be held in places such as Wegmans, Price Chopper, and Stop & Shop grocery stores as well as more CVS and Walgreens pharmacies.
WBZ NewsRadio's Suzanne Sausville (@wbzSausville) reports.
(Photo: Getty Images)
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