(CNN) -
A covid-19 vaccination site in a Latin neighborhood in New York City, heavily affected by the pandemic, saw an overwhelming number of white people who were not part of the community show up to receive the vaccine this month, city leaders say, exposing a national disparity that shows people of color are being vaccinated at dramatically lower rates.
The vaccination point at the Armory Track & Field Center in Washington Heights was opened on January 14 by NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital and New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
Initially, vaccination appointments were offered to people 65 and older who live in New York State.
Lawmakers representing Washington Heights and a doctor who saw the site last week said the first wave of vaccinations was for many white New Yorkers over 65 who traveled to that point from other parts of the city and state.
Mayor Bill de Blasio called it "outrageous" on Friday.
"The more I find out about this, the angrier I get," de Blasio said during a virtual press conference.
“Somehow, instead of focusing on the Latino community in Washington Heights, a place that was really hit by the covid, the focus was somehow conducive to people from outside the community coming in and getting vaccinated, but not them. people who live there in Washington Heights.
Completely the other way around ».
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New Yorkers of color were to get the doses
The problem at the Washington Heights site is a glaring example of inequity in access to vaccines across the country.
In a press release announcing the launch, Cuomo said the goal of the partnership with the NewYork-Presbyterian, Weill Cornell Medicine, and Columbia University Irving Medical Center was to "make sure New Yorkers of color don't stay behind. behind".
CNN reached out to the NewYork-Presbyterian on Wednesday to inquire about the disparity, and a hospital spokeswoman provided a statement saying that "effective immediately" the site would dedicate all dating slots to New York City residents, with al minus 60% reserved for eligible residents of the Washington Heights, Inwood, North and Central Harlem and South Bronx communities.
The NewYork-Presbyterian said in an email to CNN on Friday that in the past two days more than 80% of those vaccinated have been residents of those communities.
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"An ongoing engagement initiative is focused on reaching eligible northern Manhattan residents and signing them up for appointments," the hospital said in its statement Wednesday.
"This process is carried out in partnership with more than 40 community and faith-based organizations and other partners, and focuses on providing access, overcoming doubts and addressing persistent inequalities."
More than 25,000 people have been vaccinated at the site since it opened, according to the hospital.
The NewYork-Presbyterian did not have a racial breakdown of vaccine recipients.
Washington Heights and neighboring Inwood, which according to the 2018 NYC Health report are 72% Latino, have been a hotbed of COVID-19 cases.
Latinos account for 30% of deaths in New York City.
'It's like' The Hunger Games'
New York City Councilman Mark Levine told CNN that the initial registration process for the Armory site required several steps for registration and eligibility assessment and was not accommodating for non-speaking Washington Heights residents. English and they are not tech savvy.
In Washington Heights / Inwood, 37% of residents have "limited English proficiency," according to the 2018 NYC Health report.
A Jan. 14 statement on the New York State website said that people who were eligible to receive the vaccine could register through a Columbia, New York-Presbyterian, and Weill Cornell Medicine patient portal or create a new account on a separate page.
"It's like 'The Hunger Games,'" Levine said.
“People who don't have a computer, they don't have a good internet, they are not comfortable with technology, they may have limited English language skills, they are not succeeding.
And that is reflected in who appears in these places.
Dr. Susana Bejar of Columbia University Irving Medical Center said she witnessed firsthand the disparity in Washington Heights when she volunteered at that vaccination point as a citation verifier on January 23.
MORE: Whites are vaccinated against covid-19 at a higher rate than Latinos and blacks in the US
Béjar said that of the 2,400 people who received the vaccine that day, most were not from the local community.
"Simply put, I have never seen so many white people in Washington Heights," Béjar tweeted Sunday.
Bejar said the site should prioritize Washington Heights residents by allowing same-day, walk-in appointments, reserving vaccinations for those living in the community, offering help to people who have difficulty signing up for the app with smartphones, and ensure residents have time to schedule appointments.
"It's difficult to do both speed and fairness," Bejar told CNN.
"When vaccines are distributed primarily through an English smartphone app to whoever updates the request first, long-standing structural inequities will replicate unless the medical community makes a conscious and consistent effort to address them."
The neighborhood, which is predominantly Hispanic or Latino, has the highest test positivity and case rates in Manhattan.
Doctors in Washington Heights are concerned that residents of the area are receiving equitable access to the Covid-19 vaccine.
Source: New York City health department.
Graphic: Priya Krishnakumar, CNN
The need for community partnerships
Disparities over who gets the Covid-19 vaccine is a national issue.
A CNN analysis of 14 states found that vaccine coverage is twice as high among white people on average than black and Latino people.
The analysis found that, on average, more than 4% of the white population has received the covid-19 vaccine, approximately 2.3 times higher than the black population (1.9% covered) and 2.6 times more higher than the Hispanic population (1.8% covered).
De Blasio said vaccine providers should partner with community groups, local health care providers, clergy and trusted community leaders to ensure that people of color have fair access.
The problem is compounded by the fact that New York has seen a vaccine shortage, and Cuomo indicated this week that there were not enough doses for the 7 million people who are eligible to receive the vaccine under federal guidelines.
"We are nowhere near the supply we need," De Blasio said at Friday's press conference.
Representative Adriano Espaillat (D-NY) said his office received several complaints about the local community's exclusion from vaccines at that point.
Espaillat said he believes it was an oversight and that partnerships with local churches and senior centers will be critical to vaccination efforts in Washington Heights.
"From day one I have been concerned that the distribution of the vaccine does not allow the rich to come in and push our people so they can jump the line and get the vaccine first," Espaillat said.
"I think it is fixed, but we will monitor it for the next few days."
Community groups in Washington Heights say they must be involved in all outreach efforts if healthcare leaders want to reach people of color.
Jon-Paul Dyson, director of programs for Community League of the Heights, or CLOTH, noted that many residents do not have access to Wi-Fi or email, so they rely on word of mouth, literature in the mail, or their providers. social services for information.
Dyson said he works with the health care community to help residents get vaccinated.
"Education is the most important piece missing right now," Dyson said Thursday.
"The locations of where to go, the transportation for our seniors to get there, all of the above."
CNN's Priya Krishnakumar and Deidre McPhillips contributed to this report.
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