Jim Crow Is Alive And Well

After the state threatened to slash its supply of COVID-19 vaccine doses, Dallas officials reversed course on a plan that would have prioritized some doses for people living in the county’s most vulnerable ZIP codes, primarily in communities of color. https://t.co/zp5Ib9FDl3

— Texas Tribune (@TexasTribune) January 21, 2021

A divided Dallas County Commissioners Court had voted Tuesday to prioritize vaccines at its Fair Park distribution center for individuals in mostly Black and Latino neighborhoods, a reflection of increased vulnerability to the coronavirus in 11 Dallas County ZIP codes, according to the Dallas Morning News.

In Texas and across the nation, communities of color have been hardest hit by the novel coronavirus, and health officials are grappling with how to ensure equity in the vaccine rollout. In Dallas, as in other major Texas cities, distribution sites are more commonly located in white neighborhoods, and early data showed the North Texas county had distributed most of its shots to residents of whiter, wealthier neighborhoods.

Dallas leaders tried to prioritize any residents who meet the state’s criteria for vaccination and live in one of the 11 ZIP codes, which are all completely or partially south of Interstate 30, a dividing line that splits the county along racial and socioeconomic lines, the Dallas Morning News reported this week.

But Texas health officials pushed back on the proposal, warning that it was “not acceptable to [the Department of State Health Services.]”

“While we ask hub providers to ensure vaccine reaches the hardest hit areas and populations, solely vaccinating people who live in those areas is not in line with the agreement to be a hub provider,” Imelda Garcia, an associate commissioner with DSHS, wrote to Dallas health officials in a letter obtained by The Texas Tribune. “If Dallas County is unable to meet these expectations, we will be forced to reduce the weekly vaccine allocation to Dallas County Health and Human Services and no longer consider it a hub provider.”

For reference, the population of Dallas County is over 2.6 million, and "The county government is responsible for just 10% of the vaccines distributed in Dallas County. Most of the vaccines are actually distributed by hospitals and other health-related institutions."  But this effort to deliver vaccine to the most affected people in the county was rejected by the State, which further threatened to remove any vaccine from the County for distribution by it.

And yet Karl Rove is concerned about any reference to racism in America.  Why?  So we can continue to get away with it?  And it's not like our vaccine distribution is working so well in Texas, anyway.