Vaccine access codes meant for low-income communities are being misused across Bay Area
February 23, 2021
ABC7 News article by: Liz Kreutz
“MARIN COUNTY, Calif, (KGO) — As California works to create a more equitable vaccine distribution plan, it is hitting another snag.
Appointments reserved for people hit hardest by the coronavirus pandemic are being snatched up by people they aren’t intended for. It has to do with vaccine access codes — meant for low-income communities of color — that are being shared and misused across the state.
In the Bay Area, the codes are being shared in affluent neighborhoods in Marin County. ABC7 News heard from three different people — all of whom asked to remain anonymous — who received an access code for the Oakland Coliseum vaccination site in Alameda County. The site is one of two vaccination centers set up by the state in partnership with the federal government.
Omar Carrera is the CEO of the Canal Alliance. He’s frustrated he didn’t even know about the codes and say it’s just another reminder of the inequities of the pandemic.
“I didn’t know anything about it, so forget about the community,” Carrera said. “Of course the ones who are on top of the news, the ones with access to technology, the ones who have connections with the people with information are the ones who are benefitting from it.”
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