![]() ![]() So far at least 1,600 people have been fully vaccinated at the Pui Tak Center. “How you address equity differs from community to community.” “They’re going to insist on their way of addressing equity, but it completely overlooks our needs,” Mah said. Mah said she “begged” the city for vaccines. It’s painstaking work, too, that involves calling people on the waitlist sometimes late at night to confirm their appointments in the days ahead.īecause there isn’t a steady supply of vaccines to Pui Tak, the appointments happen whenever doses are available. It’s a lot of fun because we are helping, and also to bless the community.” And then we continue to call other people. “Some say they already take the vaccine somewhere. “We have been calling over 2,000 people already,” Lee said next to a table where people checked in to receive a vaccination. The list is pretty long.ĭuring a recent vaccination clinic, Wu’s assistant Karen Lee was armed with a tablet and a separate packet of paper to track the number of people vaccinated and doses administered that day. People only can get on the list if they can read Chinese, with the idea that younger, English-speaking members of the community could sign up elsewhere. There’s somewhat of a secret waiting list to get a shot. Now Wu runs large vaccination clinics there with vaccines from Prism Health Lab. So without a steady supply of vaccines, community leaders said they had to step up to open vaccination sites for residents closer to home. “Our biggest concern was seniors who live by themselves.” “People are really going to struggle with getting vaccinated, and we found that to be really true,” Wu said. They stressed that many Chinese-speaking elderly residents wouldn’t consider leaving the area to get vaccinated in a parking lot just outside the United Center sports arena, where there’s a large vaccination site. It’s where they’re most comfortable, several community leaders said. For many Chinatown residents who speak only Chinese, their neighborhood is their world. Mah adds that many Chinatown residents have low literacy even in Chinese. “A lot of people just don’t have the English skills to navigate, and some people don’t have the technology skills to figure things out,” said David Wu, executive director of the Pui Tak Center, a staple in the heart of Chinatown. Many Chinatown residents, particularly the elderly, face language and technology barriers in getting access to the vaccine. Mercy Hospital in Bronzeville has been the go-to for many Chinatown residents over the years, and that hospital is on life support as it goes between owners. Mah describes the neighborhood as a health care desert, with fewer places to get medical care than in other parts of the city. The Chicago Department of Public Health did not provide comment for this story. “Chinatown has fallen through the cracks,” said Illinois Rep. They say to see how vulnerable their neighborhood is, look beyond the metrics. Many people in Chinatown have been frustrated by the lack of vaccine access in their community. Where doses are shipped isn’t necessarily where people get their shots. That’s compared to at least 79,000 doses in 60611, where tony Streeterville is located and home to prominent Northwestern Memorial Hospital, and at least 37,000 in Gage Park on the Southwest Side. The entire 60616 ZIP code, which includes Chinatown, received just over 4,000 doses during the first three months of the vaccine rollout ending in mid-March, according to a WBEZ analysis of vaccine distribution data obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The Chicago Department of Public Health has concentrated vaccination efforts in several of these communities. West Englewood, New City, Gage Park and North Lawndale are among two dozen communities labeled “high” on the vulnerability index. The broader Armour Square community, which includes Chinatown, is considered “low” on the city’s so-called COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index.īlack and Latino Chicagoans have been disproportionately affected by the virus. They take into account how many people have gotten sick or died from the coronavirus, how many senior citizens live there and how many people can’t work from home.įrom the city’s metrics, Chinatown isn’t as vulnerable as other parts of Chicago. “Chinatown has fallen through the cracks”Ĭhicago public health officials use a variety of metrics to determine how vulnerable each community in the city is to COVID-19, and that helps guide them on where to send coveted vaccines. ![]() They would open vaccination sites themselves. With worries that the neighborhood would be left behind in the race toward immunity, community leaders forged a plan. ![]()
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