SEATTLE — The City of Seattle is hosting the largest civilian-led mass vaccination site in the country, but community leaders are finding flaws that highlight inequities among certain population groups, specifically Asian American seniors.
The eventual goal is to vaccinate roughly 22,000 people a day, but some leaders in the Asian community say if inequities go unchanged, many older people may be left without a vaccine as more people become eligible to receive them.
A senior woman who speaks Vietnamese says she took several buses to get to Lumen Field on the first day of the clinic but found herself frustrated and afraid she would not get the vaccine.
Lisa Chin, the CEO of Treehouse, says this woman showed up and did not receive a translator, didn't know she needed a second shot, and was later informed she may have to lose work from her custodial job to come back during the week for that second dose.
"At a certain point, this elderly woman, who has no husband and no children, who had spent two hours trying to get there, started to think that it was her fault," Chin said. "That somehow she had done something wrong and therefore was not getting vaccinated."
Chin says this example uncovers inequities Asian Americans have in their own backyards.
"There were things like flyers printed in Spanish and English," Chin said. "But the majority-minority in the Puget Sound is Asian American at 22%. And of that, Asian Americans are not a homogeneous group."
The state's vaccine rollout has faced many criticisms since the start, but Asian American Pacific Islander (AAPI) community leaders say a slow rollout coupled with technology disparities has made the situation worse for seniors.
"I mean, we're the tech capital of the world. How we could have botched this?" asked former Washington governor Gary Locke. "How all the states have botched this, is just mind-boggling to me. Nonetheless, I really applaud Mayor [Jenny] Durkan for putting up this and standing up this mass action vaccination site. There were obviously some problems on the first few days."
Locke says he is concerned that as more people become eligible for the vaccine, more people will face challenges getting the shot, especially for people with limited English skills. Locke says he had a conversation with Durkan, and she has responded with changes.
"How do we make sure that the most vulnerable, the elderly, the people who need the vaccine most will not be overlooked or skipped as we open up to many other categories?" Locke asked. "There needs to be much better coordination between the state and the local entities, the governments and the health care providers to make sure that the people who really need it are able to get it before we just open it up to everyone. Then it becomes a free-for-all and a mad frenzy."
The mayor's office responded to a KING 5 request to discuss the changes. A spokesperson said the woman who did not receive translation services slipped through the cracks and volunteers failed to follow protocol.
Now the city will re-emphasize protocols and ways to help residents who need language access help. The city provides devices that have the ability to do real-time interpretation services in more than 200 languages.
The mayor's office will also make sure volunteers understand how to use those translation devices. Signage will be updated and moved to more areas for visibility, and the city named a person to be an "equity lead" to ensure these kinds of situations do not happen.
Chin says she encourages the city to also consider partnering with community groups that are already in tune with the specific needs of Asian Americans and other groups that serve the senior population.
Governor Locke said the mayor agreed to have a meeting with leaders of nonprofit groups on behalf of limited English speakers as well.
"But quite frankly, it just points out just how chaotic the distribution of the vaccine has been throughout our entire state," Locke said.