Mary Hansen / NPR Illinois | 91.9 UIS
Illinois has given more than two million vaccinations. But Black residents are less likely to get the shots than their white peers, according to Illinois Department of Public Health data. As of Feb. 22, 4% of Sangamon County’s vaccine doses have gone to Black residents, who make up 13% of the county’s population, according to census numbers.
State and county health officials point to hesitancy – a distrust of the medical establishment about getting the vaccine – as a reason for the gap. Nationwide surveys show there is more hesitancy among Black and Latino communities. Still, advocates for equitable distribution say ensuring access is as urgent as education.
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Many Illinois counties rely on volunteers to help inoculate people against the COVID-19. The people stepping up are often doctors, nurses and students.
Joe Mahr and Angie Leventis Lourgos
Chicago Tribune (TNS)
Marj Leopardo is 85. Her husband, Sam, is 88. They both have health issues. And their days are now consumed with one thing: the vaccine hunt.
The Crystal Lake couple are, on paper, just the kind of people the government wants at the front of the vaccine line. But they live in a country that’s struggled with the rollout, and in a state that’s struggled more than others.
So that has meant reaching out daily to doctors’ offices, pharmacies, hospitals, the local health department. It has meant their daughter stalks websites to hunt for an elusive open appointment. And they watch others, in other suburbs and other states, snap up shots.