Vehicle Access Remains Key to Receiving COVID-19 Vaccine in Colorado
By Robert Davis
A new vaccine equity tool developed by Ariadne Labs and the Computational Epidemiology Lab at Boston Children’s Hospital shows that having access to a vehicle remains paramount to accessing the COVID-19 vaccine in Colorado.
Known as the Vaccine Equity Planner (VEP), the tool is designed to measure “vaccine deserts” – areas of the state where people have little or no convenient access to existing vaccination or potential new vaccination sites. It aggregates data from “a variety of public data sources for potential vaccination sites, general population characteristics, and area-based measures,” according to its website. The data is then compared with three travel methods – walking, public transportation, and driving – to determine which provides the greatest vaccine access. Google provided the travel times and other geospatial data, according to the VEP.
The tool also cross-references the data with the Centers for Disease Control’s Social Vulnerability Index to highlight areas that are particularly barren. To account for individual vaccine preferences, the tool also uses data collected from the COVID-19 Symptom Survey administered by the Delphi Group at Carnegie Mellon University via a partnership with Facebook.
To help local leaders identify means of improving vaccine access, VEP offers locations of potential new vaccine sites within the various deserts. These sites include schools, community clinics, and places of worship, among others.
VEP’s developers say the tool is currently in beta form. The data is current as of July 28. According to VEP, only seven counties do not have a vaccine site within a 30-minute drive of a residential area. Most of these counties are along the eastern plains with the exception being San Miguel County.
Vaccine access is greatest along major transportation corridors like I-76, I-70, and I-25, VEP shows. Parts of Highway 50 in southern Colorado also provide relief for areas the Interstates don’t reach.
Vaccine access within a 30-minute drive. Areas with vaccine sites are shaded in white. (Credit: Vaccine Equity Planner/Denver VOICE)
However, if the drive-time is reduced to 15 minutes or less, vaccine access significantly decreases, according to VEP. This becomes especially apparent in western Colorado, as the map shows.
Vaccine access within a 15-minute drive or less. Areas with vaccine sites are shaded in white (Credit: Vaccine Equity Planner/Denver VOICE)
VEP data shows that for individuals whose only mode of transportation is walking, or who rely on public transportation, vaccination access is sparse in several area. Across the state, 20 of Colorado’s 64 counties do not have a vaccine site within a 30-minute walk of a residential area. Individuals in 36 counties cannot use public transportation to get vaccinated, either.
When filtered locally, the data shows that public transportation can help individuals access a vaccine throughout the Denver metropolitan area. Some exceptions include certain areas of Greenwood Village, Cherry Creek, and Centennial, according to VEP.
Metro Denver vaccine access with public transportation. Areas that have vaccine sites are shaded in white. (Credit: Vaccine Equity Planner/Denver VOICE)
Public transportation systems in other Front Range cities like Colorado Springs, Fort Collins, and Boulder also provide similar vaccine access levels. However, VEP’s data shows these cities represent epicenters of access within their respective counties; whereas Denver County’s public transportation systems provide vaccine access across its entire landmass. Only Boulder has a similar access-to-county-landmass ratio.
For its part, Denver offers several transportation options for people who want to get vaccinated. The Regional Transportation District (RTD) has provided shuttle services to mass vaccination sites such as the Western National Complex. Meanwhile, nonprofits such as the Mile High United Way offer free rides to people with vaccine appointments.
At the same, the Office of Climate Action, Sustainability & Resiliency began piloting a carshare program for low-income residents in August 2020 using funds from the federal CARES Act. The program provides up to 450 income-qualified participants in six under-resourced communities with access to electric vehicles.
Vehicles managed by the program are available at three Denver Housing Authority properties – Sun Valley, La Alma-Lincoln Park, and Benedict Park – as well as the Glenarm Denver Motor Vehicles Building, Chestnut City Lot, and the Urban Land Conservancy headquarters on Downing St.
However, people experiencing homelessness and others who must walk face an uphill climb to find a vaccine, VEP data shows. Areas with high poverty rates in northeast, northwest, and southeast Denver do not have vaccine access sites within a 15-minute walk from residential areas, which makes it difficult for many workers without access to a vehicle to get vaccinated either on lunch or after the workday ends.
Denver vaccine access within a 15-minute walk. Areas that have vaccine sites are shaded in white. (Credit: Vaccine Equity Planner/Denver VOICE).
Instead, according to VEP data, the majority of the walkable vaccine access sites are within a 30-minute walk. Even so, parts of neighborhoods like Auraria, Jefferson Park, Elyria-Swansea, and Sun Valley do not have a walkable vaccine access area at all.
Denver vaccine access sites within a 30-minute walk of a residential area. Areas with vaccine access sites are shaded in white. (Credit: Vaccine Equity Planner/Denver VOICE).
In his 2021 State of the City address on July 26, Mayor Michael Hancock announced during his that Denver will be providing an additional $500,000 in funding to expand its vaccine outreach. A portion of the funds is slated to go to school districts to provide vaccines to students and their families.
The additional funds are being disbursed as public health officials sound the alarm over increasing COVID-19 variant cases. According to data pulled on August 6 from the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, Denver had just 82 cases of the Delta variant. However, this strain makes up over 90% of new cases statewide.
Bob McDonald, executive director of Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment described the data as a “pandemic of the unvaccinated.”
“It is time for more aggressive outreach efforts to ensure families across the city who have been hesitant to receive the vaccine have the information and access they need to get vaccinated,” he told the Denver VOICE in a statement.
For a current list of vaccination sites in Denver County, please click here.