TARRANT COUNTY, Texas — As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 213,000 doses of the COVID-19 vaccine had been given out in Tarrant County. But where those doses are going has county officials looking to do some serious outreach.
According to an interactive map on the county's COVID-19 website, in some affluent communities, the percentage of residents who've received at least one vaccine dose is far above the county average.
Right now, 8% of Tarrant County residents have received at least one dose. But in the small, affluent community of Westover Hills, the county reports 23.09% of Westover Hills residents have received at least one dose. In Colleyville, it's 14.98%, and in Southlake, 13.1% have received at least one dose. In Fort Worth's 76109 ZIP code, which includes Texas Christian University and the surrounding area, nearly 18% have received a dose.
But in the 76105 ZIP code, which represents Fort Worth's long-underserved Stop Six neighborhood, the vaccination rate is just 3.25%. In the 76119 ZIP code, southeast of downtown Fort Worth, only 3.75% have gotten at least one dose.
"The tale of two Americas," public health director Vinny Taneja said when asked about the disparities. "Those who have and those who have not."
It's a tale the county says they're trying to change.
"There are people in our community who had challenges accessing the information, whether they don't have internet or they don't have computers, or just lack of information and hesitancy to sign up for the vaccine," Taneja said. "Then there have been people who already have the information, they can easily read it on the website, they could pull out a smartphone and sign up. The sign-ups were higher in those communities and lower in the communities that need it the most."
A new partnership with UNT Health Science Center aims to help those inequities. They'll soon "provide targeted outreach to educate, register and vaccinate" underserved communities, according to county documents.
"I think there's also a communication that needs to be done, and we recognize this," said Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley.
The public health department says vaccine registration for some minority groups is improving, but there's work to be done.