Despite flaws in the Florida Department of Health’s reporting of vaccination rates for each of the 80 ZIP codes in Miami-Dade, a Miami Herald and el Nuevo Herald analysis of the data reveals trends that suggest areas with predominantly Black and low-income residents are falling behind on vaccination against COVID-19.
In the nine Miami-Dade ZIP codes where more than half of residents describe themselves as non-Hispanic Black, the average vaccination rate was just 48% of the population as of Friday. Only one of the nine ZIP codes had more than 50% of its population fully vaccinated.
Because the health department’s data includes vaccination rates higher than 100% in some ZIP codes, the Herald, in consultation with experts, adjusted the percentages in ZIP codes where the number of people vaccinated exceeded the eligible population.
For those ZIP codes, the Herald changed the number of people vaccinated to the highest possible number — the total population eligible for the vaccine, those 12 and older, in each ZIP code.
The county rates cited in this story reflect the Herald’s adjusted data. However, the discrepancies noted in the story are evident whether the data was adjusted or not, though they are narrower using the adjusted figures. Of the 23 ZIP codes with vaccination rates exceeding 100%, only two had a poverty rate higher than the county average of about 17%.
Mary Jo Trepka, an infectious disease epidemiologist with Florida International University who has analyzed the health department’s data, said she suspects many of the ZIP codes with vaccination rates over 100% are likely due to “snowbirds” and wealthy tourists who stay in Miami-Dade’s wealthy areas.
The numbers also suggest that many of Miami-Dade’s low-income residents are not getting vaccinated.
In the 27 ZIP codes where the share of residents living in poverty exceeds the county average, 23 had a fully vaccinated rate below the county median of almost 67%.
Miami-Dade’s vaccination rate also shows a dividing line by race.
Among the 10 ZIP codes with the lowest vaccination rates in the county, six are majority Black, and two are more than 35% Black. Eight of those 10 ZIP codes have a higher share of residents living in poverty than the county average.
Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava said her administration has increased outreach to under-vaccinated areas of the county through door-to-door canvassing, educational forums and a paid media campaign.
Miami-Dade’s VaxNow program reports that canvassers have visited nearly 300,000 households to distribute information and encourage testing, vaccination and prevention.
The county has also opened 24-hour vaccination sites, Levine Cava said, and made it easier for residents to get vaccinated.
“We’re looking for no excuses,” she said. “We’re looking for things that reduce barriers to participation.”
Trepka, the FIU epidemiologist, said the data clearly shows that the county should focus on vaccinating younger people. According to the raw data provided by DOH, kids 12 through 17 make up the age group with the lowest vaccination rate in Miami-Dade.
“They’re clearly the group that is not only under-vaccinated, but is also the group that is interacting with a lot of other people and can spread the virus pretty efficiently,” Trepka said.
The Herald was unable to adjust the data by age because that information was not provided by ZIP code.
Dr. Kunjana Mavunda, a pediatric pulmonologist practicing in Miami and a former director of the state health department’s division of epidemiology and disease control, said the county has provided “adequate” access to COVID-19 vaccines in predominantly minority neighborhoods.
But many choose not to get vaccinated, Mavunda said, because of a broad distrust in the healthcare system, the government or what’s inside the shots.
“A lot of my patients are preemies and very vulnerable babies from poorer backgrounds,” said Mavunda, a physician with KIDZ Medical Services, a group of pediatric specialists, “and it just bothers me how many parents have chosen not to get the vaccine. I offer the vaccine in the office.”
Mavunda said many receive news from social media or by word of mouth in their neighborhoods, and that the information can often be misleading if not false.
“Some of the things they think about the vaccine are totally false, but you just can’t make them understand,” she said.
Levine Cava said her administration has targeted its outreach at communities that are not getting vaccinated, but that it takes a trusted messenger to close the deal for many who remain unconvinced.
On Oct. 21, she visited Dukunoo Jamaican Kitchen, a restaurant at 316 NW 24th St., in one of Miami-Dade’s least vaccinated ZIP codes, 33127, and announced a new program, in partnership with local Chambers of Commerce, calling on small business owners to encourage their employees to get vaccinated.
Levine Cava said she didn’t choose the location for the announcement, but that her staff likely selected the neighborhood “based on essentially vaccine hesitancy and wanting to be sure that populations that might be holding back are addressed directly.
“People want to see people like them getting vaccinated,” she said.
Miami Herald investigative reporter Sarah Blaskey contributed to this report.
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