Name: Vaccine rates vary by neighborhood in San Francisco. Here’s why
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Vaccine rates vary by neighborhood in San Francisco. Here’s why

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One out of three San Franciscans has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But vaccination rates vary widely from neighborhood to neighborhood, from 50% of Japantown residents to just 14% of people living in Treasure Island.A lot of these differences can be traced back to how many high-priority residents each neighborhood has; Treasure Island’s population skews much younger than Japantown’s, for instance. But some neighborhoods with high numbers of elderly people and other high-priority groups are getting left behind — particularly Chinatown.Using U.S. Census data, the Chronicle estimated the number of each neighborhood’s residents deemed high-priority for a COVID vaccine. We included people 65 and older and education and healthcare workers, but not food and agriculture workers or people made eligible by specific due to the lack of neighborhood-level data for these groups.We then compared each neighborhood’s estimated priority population to its overall vaccination rate according to the , calculating the difference between them — what we called the vaccination rate surplus.As of Tuesday, nearly all neighborhoods have vaccinated a greater percentage of their residents than those deemed high-priority. Potrero Hill had the greatest vaccination rate surplus, meaning it was the furthest ahead in vaccinating its residents beyond its priority population. Just about 33% of the neighborhood’s residents have been vaccinated, even though only about 16% fall into the high-priority category — a difference of 17 percentage points.Share of vaccinated residents versus the share of estimated prioritized residents in San Francisco neighborhoodsSort by:Estimated prioritizedVaccinatedExpandCollapseSource: San Francisco Department of Public Health; U.S. Census BureauEstimated prioritized residents are those ages 65+ and work in "educational services, and health care and social assistance", as defined by the U.S. Census Bureau. Data as of March 23rd, 2021.The Financial District and Bayview Hunters Point also have large vaccination rate surpluses, vaccinating far more of their residents than their rates of high-priority residents would suggest.On the other end of the scale is Chinatown, which has 35% of its residents vaccinated -- the same percentage of its population as those considered high priority. Here/Say Media on how Chinatown's vaccination rates were lagging behind those of other neighborhoods. Nob Hill and Japantown are also low on the list, having only vaccinated a slightly greater share of their population than the share of priority residents.Despite these outliers, overall, a neighborhood’s total vaccination rate is closely correlated with its percentage of priority residents. However, wealthier neighborhoods tended to outpace less wealthy ones. The Financial District, for example, has a median income of nearly $187,000, and has 30% of its residents vaccinated despite only having 16% of residents fall into the priority eligible category. Potrero Hill, which also has one of the highest median household incomes in the city, has more than twice as many people vaccinated as prioritized. Chinatown, the poorest neighborhood in San Francisco with a median household income of just under $28,000, is also the furthest behind when taking into account age and occupation-related eligibility.Not every neighborhood follows this pattern: The Bayview, for instance, has one of the lowest median household incomes in the city, at just over $65,000, yet is one of the neighborhoods furthest ahead in vaccinating residents beyond the high-priority baseline.Dr. Naveena Bobba, Deputy Director of the San Francisco Department of Public Health, said the city’s public health department has focused its vaccination efforts on its most vulnerable residents, including lower-income people, essential workers and people of color. Bobba’s department receives about a third of all vaccine doses allocated to the city; the rest are distributed by pharmacies and insurers.Bobba said the department is aware that Chinatown is lagging behind other neighborhoods. This lag could exist for several reasons, she added, including distrust of the government, lack of access to transport options for the elderly, and fear brought on by the recent attacks on Asian-Americans.Beyond Chinatown, however, Bobba said that the city has seen success with its strategy of focusing vaccination efforts on the city’s lower southeast sector. Running from Chinatown through the Tenderloin, the Mission, and down to the Bayview, this strip of the city has seen disproportionately high COVID-19 case and death rates throughout the pandemic. The city’s emphasis on vaccinating people in this part of the city may explain why Bayview Hunters Point, a neighborhood with a large low-income population, has vaccinated 36% of its residents compared to just 23% prioritized.“As we were building our sites, we made sure two of the mass vaccination sites were in the lower southeast quadrant so that access issues wouldn’t be problematic,” Bobba said.VaccinesUpdated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.Potrero Hill, on the outskirts of that southeast quadrant, may benefit from its proximity. Additionally, while the neighborhood’s overall median income is high, it is also home to two affordable housing projects, which the department has allocated doses to cover.Plus, Bobba said, “there’s the surrounding community that’s a little wealthier and have been able to get vaccines” — whether through their insurance plans or by having the time and Internet know-how to navigate the complex appointment-setting process.Still, San Francisco’s vaccination rates don’t appear to be as unequal as the state’s overall. Last week, a report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that California ranked among the five worst states in getting its . The state has fallen behind on vaccinating its Black and Hispanic residents in particular.“When you do look at the data, what you’re seeing is a largely consistent pattern of Black and Hispanic people receiving fewer shares of vaccine compared to their share of cases and deaths,” said Samantha Artiga, Vice president and Director of Racial Equity and Health Policy at the Kaiser Family Foundation.While San Francisco appears to have done a slightly better job on this front as well — it’s vaccinated a greater share of its Black and Hispanic populations than the overall state, according to official figures — it’s hard to tell based on county and statewide self-reported race and ethnicity numbers, which have far higher percentages of “unknown” and “multi-race” individuals than the Census estimates.Susie Neilson is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: Twitter:Nami Sumida is a San Francisco Chronicle data visualization developer. Email: Twitter:Updated to include drought zones while tracking water shortage status of your area, plus reservoir levels and a list of restrictions for the Bay Area’s largest water districts.

One out of three San Franciscans has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. But vaccination rates vary widely from neighborhood to neighborhood, from 50% of Japantown residents to just 14% of people living in Treasure Island.A lot of these differences can be traced back to how many high-priority residents each neighborhood has; Treasure Island’s population skews much younger than Japantown’s, for instance. But some neighborhoods with high numbers of elderly people and other high-priority groups are getting left behind — particularly Chinatown.Using U.S. Census data, the Chronicle...

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Susie Neilson

Nami Sumida

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Vaccine rates vary by neighborhood in San Francisco. Here’s why

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