COVID-19 Pandemic
Assessment of Inaugural COVID-19 Vaccine Allocation Among Critical Populations in Nebraska Julia (He)* Julia (He) Bai Patrick Maloney David Brett-Major Kendra Ratnapradipa Yi Du Sai Paritala Ed Peters
The first phase of the COVID-19 vaccine distribution strategy initiated on December 2020 prioritized critical populations, defined by the Nebraska COVID-19 Vaccination Plan as healthcare personnel, critical infrastructure workforce, elderly populations, and vulnerable populations based on minority status, congregate living, and disabilities. We aim to evaluate vaccination equity and assess potential disparities in the initial rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine in Nebraska.
We conducted a cross-sectional supply-demand study covering 1 Dec 2020 – 28 Feb 2021. Statewide vaccination inventory data and immunization data from the Nebraska Department Health and Human Services (DHHS) as well as DHHS news releases detailing initial participating retail pharmacies were used to identify addresses and calculate supply quantities of state provider sites (PS) and CDC-associated retail pharmacy PS. The proportion of vaccine eligible critical population was estimated using the 2016-2020 ACS dataset. The supply to demand ratio (SDR) for each PS was determined by the supply quantity and the critical population of the census tract (CT). The county vaccine allocation score (CVAS) was created using the sum of SDR from each PS residing within the county. County level CDC reported COVID-19 death and case prevalence, USDA rurality designation, and CDC/ATSDR social vulnerability variables related to socioeconomic status, minority status, and household/housing characteristics were utilized as covariates in predicting CVAS through a multivariate linear regression model.
Our results observed a 0.21 point decrease in CVAS with each percentage increase in minority populations (CI: -0.23 – -0.02) when adjusted for COVID-19 death prevalence (Parameter estimate: 0.62, CI: 0.58-0.66) and percent in poverty (Parameter estimate: 0.27, CI: 0.02-0.52).
The evaluation of early allocation efforts will serve as a baseline to appraise future vaccination strategies in disparity reduction and equity improvement.
