Older Adults Without Family or Friends Lag in Race to Get Vaccines

Older adults with family or friends are getting COVID-19 vaccine appointments, while those lacking such supports are lagging, reports Kaiser Health News . "I'm very concerned that barriers to getting vaccines are having unequal impact on our older population," said XinQi Dong at Rutgers University's Institute for Health, Health Policy, and Aging Research. Black and Hispanic seniors, non-native English speakers, older adults in low-income neighborhoods, frail or seriously ill seniors, and people with vision and hearing impairments are disproportionately affected by such barriers to access. "The question is 'Who's going to actually get vaccines?' — older adults who are tech-savvy, with financial resources, and family members to help them, or harder-to-reach populations?" said New York University Professor Abraham Brody. "If seniors of color and people living in poor neighborhoods can't find a way to get vaccines, you're going to see disparities that have surfaced during the pandemic widening." KHN reports that blacks are receiving inoculations at a far lower rate than whites, according to 23 states reporting vaccine data by race. Moreover, several studies found a severe lack of Internet access and online patient portal accounts with healthcare providers among black and Hispanic older adults, compared to white seniors. "It's not enough to offer technological solutions to these seniors: they need someone — an adult child, a grandchild, an advocate — who can help them engage with the healthcare system and get these vaccines," explained Preeti Malani with the University of Michigan's National Poll on Healthy Aging.