For over a year, the COVID-19 pandemic in Massachusetts and across the nation has been characterized by dramatic racial inequities across cases, hospitalizations, and deaths.
Now, with vaccines finally available, White residents are receiving the vast majority of the state’s vaccine doses. As of last week, White residents had received 12 times more doses than Black residents and 16 times more doses than Latinx residents.
On February 17th a coalition of Civil Rights, Immigrant Justice, and Public Health Leaders launched the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition, #VaccineEquityNow, on February 17 at a 1:30 online press conference at which they issued five demands to Governor Baker:
- direct $10 million to trusted community organizations for outreach and engagement in communities of color
- immediately implement the promised 20% additional doses for the most impacted communities
- set clear goals and track vaccine benchmarks that mirror the disproportionate impact on Black and Latinx residents
- improve language access and cultural competence across all aspects of vaccine outreach and administration
- appoint a vaccine czar with authority and accountability to address vaccine inequities
Speakers at the Press Conference included: Eva Millona, Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, event co-chair; Dr. Atyia Martin, Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition, event co-chair; Carlene Pavlos, Massachusetts Public Health Association, event co-chair; Helena DaSilva-Hughes, Immigrants Assistance Center; Iván Espinoza-Madrigal, Lawyers for Civil Rights; State Senator Sonia Chang-Díaz; and State Representative Liz Miranda.
Participating organizations included: ACLU Massachusetts; Black Boston COVID-19 Coalition; Immigrants Assistance Center; King Boston; La Colaborativa; Lawyers for Civil Rights; Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition; Massachusetts Public Health Association; NAACP, New England Area Conference; Southeast Asian Coalition of Central MA; and the Union of Minority Neighborhoods.
You can download #VaccineEquityNow’s full list of demands.
For further information, contact:
Carlene Pavlos, Massachusetts Public Health Association
857-302-7023; cpavlos@mapublichealth.org
