Accurately identifying and reporting data on recipients’ race and ethnicity “is vital to the success of the mass vaccination campaign in Missouri,” MHA’s newsletter read.
Missouri prioritizes racial and ethnic minorities in Phase 2 of its eligibility tiers — the last phase before the vaccine becomes available to the wider public.
Missouri’s low numbers of vaccinations among minority residents, “raises serious questions on vaccine acceptance and trust-building in Black and Brown communities that have been the historical recipients of devastating medical mistreatment, including the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, and also highlights the critical need to ensure adequate distribution to vulnerable citizens,” MHA’s newsletter read.
Black Missouri residents were the most skeptical that a vaccine would be distributed fairly, according to an MHA poll earlier this month, and the low figures underscore the challenge Missouri faces in communicating the safety and effectiveness of a COVID-19 vaccine to hesitant residents. https://missouriindependent.com/2020/12/14/missouris-first-covid-vaccine-doses-are-on-the-way-how-do-you-get-people-to-take-them/
According to the CDC, Missouri had distributed 665,300 doses from the federal government and administered 340,273 doses as of Tuesday — about 51% of its doses. However, Missouri’s own dashboard gives the total number of doses administered at 356,310. The CDC’s data notes that federal figures may differ because there may be a delay between when a vaccination record appears in a state system and when it’s received by the CDC.
In a news release announcing the dashboard’s launch, Gov. Mike Parson said he participated in a call Tuesday with the National Governors Association, White House officials, and other federal partners, and that other governors “expressed concern that vaccination data from the CDC is being misrepresented and does not fully reflect the situations we are seeing at the state level.” Missouri’s low percentage of residents who had received the initial shot caused some lawmakers to call for greater transparency and faster distribution.
“We can all agree this is not acceptable, and I urge you to provide swift action to address these shortcomings,” Sen. Tony Luetkemeyer, R-Parkville, wrote in a letter Tuesday to Randall Williams, the director of Missouri’s Department of Health and Senior Services.
Rep. LaDonna Appelbaum, D-St. Louis said she intends to investigate the state’s early deployment of vaccines. “I understand the difficult logistics in such a massive undertaking, but other states obviously have not had the same problems as Missouri in dealing with these issues,” Appelbaum said in a statement Tuesday. “My constituents and all Missourians deserve to know why their state has dropped the ball on protecting them from COVID, time and time again.”
Williams was scheduled to testify on the state’s vaccine rollout before the House Committee on Health and Mental Health Policy Wednesday.