Disparities in Geographic Accessibility of COVID-19 Vaccine: A Case Study of Oklahoma

Keywords: COVID-19, Vaccine, Health, Disparity
Session Type: Virtual Paper Abstract
Day: Friday
Session Start / End Time: 2/25/2022 05:20 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada)) - 2/25/2022 06:40 PM (Eastern Time (US & Canada))
Room: Virtual 4

Abstract

Only about 56 percent of the U.S. population has been fully vaccinated against COVID-19 as of September 26, 2021; however, some experts have estimated that 90 percent or more of the population would need to be fully vaccinated to achieve herd immunity. Therefore, increasing the vaccination rate is critical to ending the pandemic. Still, there is some concern about access and compliance since racial disparities in vaccination persist despite the increased availability of vaccines.
Adequate geographic access to the COVID-19 vaccine is a major factor for ensuring timely and appropriate vaccination. Nevertheless, many previous studies have found accessibilities of health care resources to be heterogeneous across geographic regions and among different groups of people. Hence, this project estimates geographic access to the COVID-19 vaccine and examines whether the accessibility is adequate and equitable across regions and all socio-demographic groups. Moreover, the research uses the state of Oklahoma as the study area for several reasons. First, only 46 percent of the population in Oklahoma is fully vaccinated, which is 10 percent lower than the national average vaccination rate. Second, unvaccinated people in Oklahoma are at extremely high risk because of high Covid-19 transmission in late September. Third, the demographics of Oklahoma are unique because it has the second-largest Native American population, with 39 tribal nations. Therefore, the study will measure the spatial accessibility to COVID-19 vaccination sites in Oklahoma and evaluate the disparities across geographic areas and socio-demographic groups.