Your city officials in Lynwood have been working hard to communicate with federal, state, and regional officials to increase access to vaccinations for our residents.
We believe the entire southeast Los Angeles region has been underserved during this COVID-19 public health emergency.
Some recent data published in the Los Angeles Times over the weekend underscores that concern. As the Times reported, African American and Latino seniors are receiving the vaccination at a lesser rate than white and Asian Americans.
This map released from the County shows the contrast between senior citizens in communities surrounding the Southeast Los Angeles (SELA) area, and communities in Southeast Los Angeles, and the color-coding is proof that seniors in our SELA communities are not getting the vaccine as quickly as those in other parts of Los Angeles.
As the Times reported:
“Nearly 25% of Black residents age 65 and over, about 30,000 people have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, an 18-point jump from Feb. 9, according to data released Friday by the Department of Public Health. Latino seniors receiving the shot reached 29%, an increase of 14 points from earlier this month.
“By contrast, 42.8% of white senior residents have received at least one shot, as have 39.4% of Asian Americans, the data show. Overall, nearly 43% of seniors in the county, or 584,370 people, have received at least one dose of the vaccine.”
“We have offered the city of Lynwood as a site for vaccinations. In fact, we approved a permit to use Lynwood City Hall as a March and April vaccination site at last week’s City Council meeting. We are communicating with all of the appropriate officials that our City is open to hosting vaccine sites at any given time,” said Mayor Marisela Santana.
For more information about who is eligible for the vaccine and where you can currently signup to receive them, check the LA County site here.
We know that access to sites like Cal State L.A. is not easy for many of our seniors which is why we are pushing the idea of more accessible local vaccination events.