Pharmacies’ starring role in vaccine push could result in unequal access

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Wed, 2020-12-23 09:39 — mike kraft

Pharmacies’ starring role in vaccine push could create unequal access Public health experts say a broader mix of vaccination sites is needed to reach as many people as possible. POLITICO

The Trump administration has made pharmacies a centerpiece of the country’s historic coronavirus vaccination campaign — a decision that could bypass low-income and minority populations hardest hit by the pandemic.

The government has recruited about 60 percent of pharmacies in the United States, Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to vaccinate the public, including standalone pharmacies and those in grocery stores.

But just as many poor urban areas are considered “food deserts,” without easy access to affordable and high-quality fresh food, research suggests that poorer areas with high minority populations are more likely to be “pharmacy deserts.” A distance of a few miles can be insurmountable for people without reliable transportation or hourly employees who can’t afford to take time to be vaccinated.

That’s why mass vaccination campaigns — such as during the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic — have traditionally relied on a broad mix of distribution sites, including schools and churches in addition to pharmacies, hospitals and clinics.

Public health experts say that a major effort is needed to ensure that communities of color and low-income Americans have equal access to coronavirus vaccines once the shots are more broadly available. Many states and local governments are working with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to plan a more comprehensive set of vaccination sites. But time is growing tight, with top Trump administration officials projecting that the public could have access to vaccines by late February.

“If everybody lives within five miles of a certain pharmacy chain, that’s all well and good, but if walking is your only form of transportation, five miles is prohibitive,” said Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association. “There are going to be definite situations where we need to bring the vaccines to the people instead of bringing the people to the vaccines.”

The health care system will need to go “above and beyond” to ensure minority communities that are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic have access to a Covid-19 vaccine, she added. ...

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