Evaluating spatial accessibility to COVID-19 vaccine resources in diversely populated counties in the United States

Abstract

This study examines the accessibility to COVID-19 vaccination resources in two counties surrounding Newark, NJ in the New York Metropolitan Area, United States. The study area represents diverse population makeups. COVID-19 vaccines were made available by different types of vaccination sites including county mass vaccination sites, medical facilities and pharmacies, and a FEMA community vaccination center in spring 2021. We used the two-step floating catchment area method to measure accessibility and calculated the average accessibility scores of different population groups. We examined the patterns and tested the significance of the differences in accessibility across population groups. The results showed clear spatial heterogeneity in the accessibility to vaccine resources with the existing infrastructure (medical/pharmacy vaccine sites). Accessibility patterns changed with the introduction of county mass sites and the FEMA community site. The county mass vaccination sites in one county greatly increased accessibilities for populations of minority and poverty. The FEMA community site in the other county accomplished the same. Both the local health department and the federal government played an important role in mitigating pre-existing inequalities during the vaccination campaign. Our study shows that social determinants of health need to be addressed and taken into explicit consideration when planning resource distribution during the pandemic.

Investigating the spatial accessibility and coverage of the pediatric COVID-19 vaccine: an ecologic study of regional health data

“…At the time of writing of this article, there have been several papers recently published mapping COVID-19 vaccine accessibility, but none that have focused specifically on pediatric populations. 18–20 We showed that the areas of highest accessibility within King County were located in Seattle and the immediately adjacent suburbs. In particular, the southernmost neighborhoods of Seattle and the suburbs of Renton, Newcastle, and Mercer Island had the highest accessibility scores.…”

Spatial accessibility and inequality analysis of rabies-exposed patients to rabies post-exposure prophylaxis clinics in Guangzhou City, China

“…The two-step floating catchment area(2SFCA) method is a widely used approach for evaluating the accessibility of facilities or services [ 18 , 19 , 23 ]. Compared to other methods (e.g.…”

“…The Huff model considers facility scale and distance factors; however, the scale of demand points is not included in the model [ 17 ]. In contrast, the 2SFCA method is advantageous as it considers multiple factors such as distance, supply and demand point facilities, etc [ 18 , 19 ]. This approach has been effectively employed in studies related to public health, such as assessing the spatial accessibility of COVID-19 patients to healthcare facilities in Florida [ 18 ], and evaluating the spatial accessibility of COVID-19 vaccine resources in the United States [ 19 ].…”

“…In contrast, the 2SFCA method is advantageous as it considers multiple factors such as distance, supply and demand point facilities, etc [ 18 , 19 ]. This approach has been effectively employed in studies related to public health, such as assessing the spatial accessibility of COVID-19 patients to healthcare facilities in Florida [ 18 ], and evaluating the spatial accessibility of COVID-19 vaccine resources in the United States [ 19 ]. Therefore, in the context of the increasing incidence of rabies exposure, the 2SFCA method can more accurately assess the spatial accessibility of rabies exposed patients to rabies PEP clinics, which is of great significance for improving medical resource allocation and guiding future policy decisions.…”

The role of Construction of Healthcare Consortium on the allocation of human resources for primary care resources and its equity in China

“…In addition to assessing equity, Zhang also assessed the efficiency of resource allocation in PHC from an input-output perspective [16]. Some scholars have also analyzed the extent to which the distribution of health resources was spatially equitable in terms of geographic accessibility [17]. In addition, there are studies that show possible future trends in health resources through predictive modeling, the results of which may often be able to guide the work of the government to some extent [18,19].…”