As more Houston area counties launch online registration portals for anyone to sign up for a COVID vaccine, a theme is starting to emerge when it comes to the selection process.
Age and health play a role. So does occupation as a frontline medical worker or first responder. But both Houston and Harris County officials have said it goes further than that, suggesting preference for minority groups hit hard by COVID.
“It is important, yes to get out vaccine, but it is important for us to look at equity,” said city health department director Stephen Williams. “We want to ensure we locate providers in communities that are socio or economically challenged.”
“They are selected based on high incidence of COVID or the high social vulnerability index,” Judge Lina Hidalgo of planned vaccine sites across the county.
The state of Oregon has been more upfront about it, forming a committee to weigh race-based preferences for the vaccine, according to Oregon Live.
KTRH News reached out to local health officials for clarification, but did not hear back.
That leads to our poll question.