Spatial Pattern and Accessibility Analysis of COVID-19 Vaccine Centers in Michigan

Keywords: Spatial Pattern, Spatial Accessibility, COVID-19, Vaccine Centers, Michigan
Session Type: Virtual Poster 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 21

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has adversely impacted human lives in numerous ways and the only way to bring back the normal is mass vaccination. To achieve that, strategic allocation of the COVID-19 vaccine centers is imperative. This research was undertaken to evaluate the spatial pattern and accessibility of COVID-19 vaccine centers in the state of Michigan. The geographical pattern of these vaccine centers is analyzed by using spatial statistical techniques including the Average Nearest Neighbor Index and Spatial Autocorrelation (both global and local). Following the spatial pattern analysis, to understand the accessibility of existing vaccine centers, the 2 steps floating catchment area (2SFCA) method is utilized. The results from the spatial pattern analysis showed a high clustering pattern within the urban area boundaries. A prominent spatial mismatch was observed between the availability of the vaccine centers and the residence of the elderly population along with people of low income. Moreover, the accessibility scores of the census tracts within the urban area boundaries are higher while rural and suburban areas obtain below-average accessibility scores. So, the rural area of Michigan needs more attention from the authority to fight this global pandemic. Additionally, the result showed that around 2.7 percent of the total population in Michigan have zero access to vaccine centers within 30 minutes of driving distance. The results of these analyses provided several important findings that can help the policymakers to allocate COVID-19 vaccine centers in better locations.