Southeast LA communities pushing for more COVID-19 vaccine access as one of the hardest hit areas Despite high COVID-19 case and death rates, southeast L.A. communities have some of the lowest vaccination rates in the county. Community leaders are asking the White House to help expand the vaccine resources. KABC Share: Share: CUDAHY, Calif. (KABC) -- As a leader in the southeast Los Angeles community, Denise Diaz knows what the COVID-19 numbers show in her community. "I'm getting emotional, because our people are dying," Diaz said through what she called "tears of frustration." The city of South Gate, where Diaz is a councilmember, has lost more than 200 people to COVID-19 since the beginning of the pandemic, as of March 1. That puts the city, along with other surrounding southeast L.A. cities and communities, among some of the hardest hit communities in the county.