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State senator wants COVID vaccine distributed equally | News, Sports, Jobs


When there is a COVID-19 vaccine, state Sen. Tim Kennedy, D-Buffalo, wants to see it distributed equitably.

Kennedy has introduced S.8717 in the state Senate requiring the state to develop and implement a plan for the distribution of a COVID-19 vaccine in a manner that prioritizes those communities serving the most vulnerable residents of the state

The state Health Department would be required to develop and release a plan to prioritize the distribution of the vaccine to communities and facilities serving the New York residents deemed to be most vulnerable to the immediate medical threat.

“COVID-19 is having a disproportionate and devastating impact on the African-American community in New York and across the nation, as well as senior citizens,” Kennedy wrote in his legislative justification. “As we respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, now is the time to address the systemic health disparities in our communities.”

Kennedy said Black and Latino people have become infected with the virus at three times the rate of whites and have died nearly twice as frequently. That is in part because minority populations are more likely to suffer from underlying health problems, including diabetes and obesity, that raise the risk of hospitalization and death.

“In developing this plan, the Department of Health must take into account rates of infection, the severity of illness, hospitalization, recovery, and mortality of patients in a community, with sensitivity to age, gender, racial and/or ethnic background and low-income status of the members of the community,” Kennedy wrote. “Additionally, it would require the state to take into account the ability or inability of medical providers within a community to purchase or otherwise obtain the vaccine. The disproportionate number of those being infected by COVID-19 in the African American community continues to shine a light on these pre-existing race-based health disparities. There is an undeniable history of systemic racism and inequality when it comes to accessing health care in communities of color across the country. During these unprecedented times, New York must ensure that we are taking all the measures possible to eliminate health disparities that have only been magnified by the COVID-19 crisis.”



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