Lack of COVID Vaccines, Not Mistrust, Explains Low Uptake in Vulnerable Communities, Study Finds

“Vaccine deserts” in Black neighborhoods and in rural and low-income areas — not mistrust of the medical establishment — were more to blame for low rates of vaccine uptake among populations hit hardest by COVID-19, according to a study published Thursday in PLOS Medicine. Examining more than 50,000 community pharmacies across the nation, the authors found health care facilities in counties that were rural and counties that had high Black populations and high COVID mortality were less likely to administer COVID vaccines in May of 2021, during the early vaccine rollout. The study found that racial and ethnic disparities in vaccine availability differed by location: Black people had less access to vaccines in urban counties while Hispanic people did not, and Hispanic people had less access to vaccines in rural areas while Black people did not.