For Immediate Release
NEW YORK — February 2, 2021 — The time for bold commitment to New York’s older adults — particularly people of color who have shouldered the brunt of the COVID-19 pandemic — is now. Older New Yorkers of color are disproportionately impacted by the pandemic with higher mortality rates and a growing need for critical services, exposing the racial disparities and inequalities that already plague communities of color. The vaccine distribution in New York continues to reveal the gaps as older New Yorkers of color are less likely to have access to the internet and technology and yet, we as a State, as a City, and in counties across New York, continue an over-reliance on the use of technology to distribute information and access to this life saving vaccine.
The lack of coordination with community-based organizations that are often sources of trust to marginalized populations, widen the gap in the vaccine distribution. Black and brown residents, who represent 22% of the City’s population, have only received 9% of the vaccines. While laudable steps have been taken to create hotlines or prop up vaccination in sites such as NYCHA, for too many older New Yorkers, the vaccine remains inaccessible, trapped behind a labyrinth of websites or behind hold-music with no end in sight.
To the extent that these experiences are the result of supply failures, we look now to the new Biden Administration to expedite production and ensure our vaccine supply chains are steady into the future.
To the extent that the decentralization of this system, the over-reliance on technological mechanisms for vaccine access, the lack of information across languages are the result of decisions made by our counties and our state, and the underutilization of community-based nonprofits to promote access, we call on each level of government to remove these barriers swiftly and fully, while deepening engagement with these community assets.
Vaccine accessibility by mobility must also be prioritized, and a plan for the vaccination of homebound older New Yorkers must be urgently developed and implemented.
We also call on the State and localities to make publicly clear that all professionals working with older adults are eligible for the vaccine. While nursing homes were appropriately prioritized in initial phases of vaccine distribution, it is time to fully acknowledge and appreciate that most older New Yorkers live in communities often with the support of caring human services professionals such as home-delivered meal cooks and deliverers, service coordinators and maintenance workers in senior housing, home care attendants, and caregivers who are the unseen, underappreciated heroes throughout this pandemic. To support these professionals, New York governments must not only make clear their eligibility for the vaccine, but must fully fund their work.
The time to rise to the challenge is now. With the appropriate guidance and partners, entire buildings of senior housing could swiftly and equitably vaccinate thousands of older New Yorkers at scale. There are trusted community nonprofits, armed with the right information and infrastructure, could dispel myths and ensure vaccination across the hardest to reach populations as well as hundreds of thousands of loved ones who, compelled by the efficiency of a government that moves to truly meet people where they are, will breathe a sigh of relief if we get this right.
LiveOn NY, and our members, stand at the ready to support New York in fulfilling an equitable, efficient, and expedient vaccination program.
Press Contact
Brianna Paden-Williams, Communications and Policy Associate, bpaden-williams@liveon-ny.org
About LiveOn NY
LiveOn NY’s members provide core community-based services that allow older adults to thrive in their communities. With a base of more than 100 community-based organizations serving at least 300,000 older New Yorkers annually. Our members provide services ranging from senior centers, congregate and home-delivered meals, affordable senior housing with services, elder abuse prevention services, caregiver supports, case management, transportation, and NORCs. LiveOn NY advocates for increased funding for these vital services to improve both the solvency of the system and the overall capacity of community-based service providers.
LiveOn NY also administers a citywide outreach program and staffs a hotline that educates, screens and helps with benefit enrollment including SNAP, SCRIE and others.