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Facing the COVID Challenge Together as a Community
By State Representative
Paula Hicks-Hudson
Guest Column
“We have to improve life,
not just for those who know how to manipulate the system,
but also for and with those who often have so much to give
but never get the opportunity.” - Dorothy Height.
For almost a year, the
world has struggled to combat the once-in-a-century COVID-19
virus that has killed more than 500,000 people in the United
States and some 710 and counting here in Lucas County.
Additionally, this pandemic has exposed the cracks in our
healthcare system, which too often disadvantages communities
of color.
For much of the pandemic,
especially in the early stages, Black Ohioans saw a
disproportionate share of cases, hospitalizations and
deaths. To make matters worse, the state failed to implement
a robust testing effort in Black communities, leading to
worse outcomes for Ohioans of color.
Now, as the state
continues its vaccine rollout, we again see many of the same
issues negatively affecting the equitable delivery of
healthcare services to communities of color. African
Americans make up 27.4 percent of the population in Lucas
County, but only five percent have been vaccinated to date.
The rollout of the vaccine
has been hampered by politics and propaganda. The limited
supply of the vaccine distributed to states based upon the
political decisions by the previous administration left
states and local health departments scrambling to create a
system to deliver the shots to people who want them.
There are also other
challenges for many who currently are eligible for receiving
the vaccine. I posted a question about a month ago on social
media and received overwhelming responses about the problems
that seniors were experiencing to get an appointment. We
heard of stories about many senior citizens who do not have
access to the internet or are not tech savvy enough to
navigate the often multi-step process to schedule their
appointments.
Further, the local
agencies who have been assisting persons in scheduling the
appointments have been overwhelmed by the demand - leading
to long wait times, frustration and too many vulnerable
Ohioans falling through the cracks.
Lastly, communities of
color have had extremely low vaccination rates. There are a
number of reasons for this. Some have pointed to the
suspicion of the government, or the quickness of the
approval process for the vaccines. Unfortunately, there are
some who still don’t believe that Covid is real. But the
biggest obstacle simply is access.
Many have been trying to
get vaccinated since the vaccines became available, but have
not been able to register using the current system. The good
news is that the federal government is increasing the
vaccine supply and the Federal Drug Administration just
approved another vaccine, bringing the number of approved
vaccines to three.
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