Fighting for Equitable Vaccine Access in Detroit

Vaccine Distribution Challenges in Detroit

This week, we’ve been frustrated by the way the Coronavirus vaccine has been distributed. Large hospital system primary care doctors, who mostly operate in suburban communities, have been able to get vaccinated. Meanwhile, independent primary care physicians, including our staff and other neighboring Detroit-based primary care doctors, have struggled to gain access to the vaccine at this time.

The issue is that, in our region especially, there is a corporate-based vaccine distribution. The majority of the vaccine has gone to large corporate health systems, and those doctors, nurses, and support staff who are employed by those larger health systems are more likely to get vaccinated.

This is a big frustration because this inequity in vaccine distribution will likely trickle down and affect our region negatively; suburban folks who live closer to larger health systems may have easier access tot he vaccine than those residents in urban underserved communities.

We recently talked to the news media about this issue, and we’re grateful to Ross Jones and Channel 7 Action News for picking up the story.

A National Perspective

On a National level, doctors have expressed frustration to National Public Radio (NPR) about inequality of vaccine distribution within the hospital. The article states that:

“At hospitals in Massachusetts, New York, Arizona, California and elsewhere, medical professionals say that those with the most exposure to COVID-19 patients are not always the first to get vaccinated. And others who have little or no contact with COVID-19 patients have received vaccinations.”

Possible Solutions

What could solve this issue? Perhaps we could have a national database for people to sign up, to ensure that no one is missed in vaccination and that no one receives too many doses or too few doses. Because vaccine recipients are given a plain card with the vaccine date and a follow up date, I could see the vaccine distribution becoming a problem for those with low health literacy, mental illness, or memory problems like Alzheimer’s disease.

Additionally, we could ensure that there is more equitable vaccine distribution among local health departments and hospital systems. For profit hospital systems will always act in a self-interested manner, vaccinating their employees and patients first. Health departments are more likely to reach out to the highest risk populations in the community and deliver the vaccine to nursing homes, assisted living facilities, vulnerable populations, and community-based primary care offices.

For example, my colleagues in other states and other counties have received phone calls and invitations for vaccines at their local health department. Other regions have hospital systems that act in a more equitable manner, inviting physicians and support staff and high risk populations from the community to get vaccinated at that hospital system.

Why Vaccine Distribution Matters

While I understand that this coronavirus pandemic is a once-in-one-hundred-years type of event, I will never stop advocating for health equity, especially at the community level. Vaccine distribution shouldn’t be based on which individual or corporation has the most money, but it should be based on risk factors and need. Equitable vaccine distribution matters, and we’ll keep pushing for that ideal.

Thanks for reading and watching,

-Dr. Paul Thomas at Plum Health DPC