Who’s getting vaccinated in Whatcom County? New data shows these racial and age differences
Whatcom County residents who identify as Hispanic are being vaccinated for COVID-19 at a rate about half the rest of the county, according to data released by the Washington State Department of Health.
“Hispanics are underrepresented in the vaccinated population in nearly all counties, compared to their percent of the county’s population,” according to the COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage by Race and Ethnicity in Washington State Counties report released last week.
The report, which included data through April 21, went on to state that the gap varies by county, and showed in Whatcom County that the rate was nearly half that of most other races, which is close to what the rest of the state is seeing.
The report showed that 4.6% of all Whatcom County residents who have initiated vaccination and 3.7% of those to complete it identify as Hispanic. Those averages are well below the 9.8% of the county’s total population that identifies as Hispanic, according to 2019 U.S. Census Bureau estimates.
For comparison, the report showed that 71.5% of those initiating and 73.7% of those completing vaccination in the county identify as white, compared to 78.1% of Whatcom County’s total population, according to U.S. Census estimates.
“There are different layers of challenges to reach that population,” Whatcom County Health Department Vaccine Planning Lead Amy Hockenberry said during an online briefing Thursday, April 29. “There are a lot of great efforts from community collaborations to reach people in that population, and we’re hopeful that we will see an increase in doing so.”
Hockenberry said some of those community efforts will be highlighted during a community vaccine forum that will be hosted Thursday from 5:30-6:30 p.m. on YouTube.
But the under-representation in vaccinations among Whatcom County’s Hispanic population is particularly concerning, considering it has been among the hardest hit in confirmed COVID-19 cases with its percentage of cases (22.1%) more than double its portion of the entire population, according to the latest race and ethnicity case data reported by the Whatcom County Health Department.
The report also showed a similar discrepancy among Whatcom’s non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native population, as people identifying as such represented only 1.1% of all people initiating vaccination and 1.2% of those completing vaccination compared to 2.2% of the county’s total population.
But that data is likely underrepresented in the report, Hockenberry said, as the Lummi and Nooksack communities use a different reporting system for vaccine doses administered than the one used by the state Department of Health.
Statewide, the report found that the non-Hispanic Black population also was underrepresented in vaccination efforts, but Whatcom’s vaccination percentage was more closely aligned with the overall population numbers.
Here is a breakdown of what the report showed for Whatcom County:
Non-Hispanic white: 66,863 people have initiated and 46,700 have completed vaccination. The report lists 178,378 people in the county identifying as white, meaning 37.5% have initiated vaccination and 26.2% have completed it.
Hispanic: 4,286 people have initiated and 2,333 have completed vaccination. The report lists 22,176 people in the county identifying as Hispanic, meaning 19.3% have initiated vaccination and 10.5% have completed it.
Non-Hispanic American Indian/Alaska Native: 1,005 people have initiated and 754 have completed vaccination. The report lists 5,717 people in the county identifying as American Indian/Alaska Native, meaning 17.6% have initiated vaccination and 13.2% have completed it.
Non-Hispanic Asian: 4,012 people have initiated and 2,457 have completed vaccination. The report lists 10,333 people in the county identifying as Asian, meaning 38.8% have initiated vaccination and 23.8% have completed it.
Non-Hispanic Black: 742 people have initiated and 424 have completed vaccination. The report lists 2,339 people in the county identifying as Black, meaning 31.7% have initiated vaccination and 18.1% have completed it.
Non-Hispanic Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander: 324 people have initiated and 192 have completed vaccination. The report lists 642 people in the county identifying as Native Hawaiian/Other Pacific Islander, meaning 50.5% have initiated vaccination and 29.9% have completed it.
Non-Hispanic other: 10,599 people have initiated and 7,440 have completed vaccination. The report did not include what was considered the total population of people to identify as non-Hispanic other.
Unknown: 5,715 people have initiated and 3,092 have completed vaccination where their race or ethnicity was not known.
Overall, 93,566 people in Whatcom County initiating vaccination and 63,392 people completing vaccination were included in the report.
Age and gender vaccination
Overall, nearly 52% of all Whatcom County residents eligible for vaccination (those over 16) have at least started the process, Health Department Director Erika Lautenbach said during Thursday’s briefing.
“We’re making good progress,” Lautenbach said. “We’re tracking pretty close to what we’re seeing at the state level.”
Data shown by the Whatcom County Health Department during the briefing showed that, as expected, Whatcom’s older population has initiated vaccination at a much higher rate than its younger generations.
According to the data shared during the briefing, which was through April 26:
73% of Whatcom residents 65 and older have initiated vaccination.
52% of Whatcom residents 26-49 and 50-64 have initiated vaccination.
35% of Whatcom residents 18-25 have initiated vaccination.
24% of Whatcom residents 16-17 have initiated vaccination, which Lautenbach said she was particularly impressed with, considering the age group was only allowed to begin vaccination less than two weeks earlier.
Additionally, the county data showed that 40% of vaccinations have been given to men and 48% to women.
This story was originally published April 29, 2021 at 1:29 PM.
