![]() The city of Baltimore, which ranks far behind Montgomery County on all these measures, has managed to inoculate a significantly higher percentage of its citizens. Yet it stands in 22 nd place among Maryland’s 24 counties in the share of its residents it has inoculated. Among all the US counties, it ranks 5 th in the share of its residents with post-BA and professional degrees. Montgomery County has the 2 nd highest median income among Maryland’s 24 counties, ranking it 17 th on the list of 3100 counties in the United States and at the top of the 365 counties with non-white majority populations. For example, the differences between West Virginia and Maryland have been replicated within Maryland at the county level. ![]() We can pose similar questions about differences within states. Why has North Dakota managed to use 85% of the doses it has received for inoculations compared to 49% for Massachusetts? Why does New Mexico have an inoculations/doses received ratio of 77%, versus just 43% for Virginia? What differences of institutions, strategies, and leadership explain these gaps? The Maryland/West Virginia gap is one of many such anomalies across the country. ![]() Prince George’s County has closed its vaccination facilities to Marylanders who live outside its borders. A bewildering maze of online sites-some from counties, others from hospitals–has sprung up. As Maryland residents know, this diversity has created confusion and has given residents with access to multiple information sources advantages over those with weaker networks and less Internet access. Maryland’s system of strong county governance works well in normal times but is impeding vaccine delivery during this pandemic. In Maryland, by contrast, most of these issues have been left to its counties, each of which has established its own priority lists and facilities for administering the vaccine. A week later, on February 1 st, the state will expand its network of community clinics to cover all 55 of its counties. Starting January 25, a state-wide online site will allow all residents to register for vaccinations and will direct them to facilities with doses available. The second apparent explanation for West Virginia’s superior performance: decisions have been made by the governor at the state level, eliminating confusion and competition among localities. Recently, CVS and Walgreens issued statement predicting that they would reach this goal in the other 49 states by January 25-nearly a month later than West Virginia. And perhaps most important, relationships of trust existed between local pharmacy staff and individual patients, helping them overcome vaccine aversion.īy the end of December, West Virginia had offered vaccinations to all its nursing home residents-the first state to hit this benchmark. Because most had pre-existing relationships with local nursing homes, they began with extensive information about the facilities and their residents. These pharmacies served remote rural areas and small towns as well as larger population centers. This arrangement offered several advantages. Instead, the state relied on a network of nearly 250 independent pharmacies. First, West Virginia was the only state in the country to opt out of the vaccine distribution partnership between the federal government and two national pharmacy chains-CVS and Walmart-for vaccinating residents at nursing homes and other long-term care facilities. Here’s the surprise: the wealthy and highly educated state-Maryland-is the one that has done a substandard job of delivering inoculations, while the poor and less educated state-West Virginia-is among the nation’s leaders.Īt this early stage, two key factors have emerged as explanations for this implementation gap. The other ranks 35 th for its inoculation rate and has delivered only 46% of doses received into its people’s arms, well below the national average of 53%. One ranks 2 nd in the share of its population that has been inoculated and has turned 83% of the doses received from the federal government into actual inoculations. Now compare their performance in administering COVID-19 vaccines to their populations. In one, about 40% of the adult population has a BA degree or more in the other, about 20%. One has the second lowest poverty rate, 8.2%, while the other’s is one of the highest at 17.6%. One has the highest median household income of any state in the country-the other, the second lowest. As frustration spreads over the slow pace of vaccination for Covid-19, it is instructive to compare two states.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |