Brooklyn BP, Civil Rights Lawyer Demand NYC's Racial Vaccine Data

BROOKLYN, NY — Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams has brought in a heavy-hitter in his quest to ensure structural racism problems with the coronavirus vaccine distribution aren't happening in New York City.

Adams announced Sunday that he has teamed up with civil rights attorney Norman Siegel to file a Freedom of Information Law request that the city release its racial and ethnic data about those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine so far.

The data, Adams says, will help determine whether the vaccines are being distributed equitably.

His request comes weeks after he first spoke out about the lack of public data and after recent studies about how Black Americans in other parts of the country have been dramatically underrepresented among those who have been vaccinated.

“We cannot afford to wait any longer," Adams said. "...We need real-time data on the racial breakdown of those who have been vaccinated, and we need it now...The longer we wait to get a clear picture of our vaccination rollout, the more we risk making the same mistakes we did in the early days of the pandemic."

When asked about the data on Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio said in his briefing that he plans to release it later this week.

"It’s absolutely crucial we show the people of the city how this is going, and it’s part of making sure we act to address the disparities that have pervaded the COVID experience," de Blasio said.

Adams has argued that the data should have been released through a real-time reporting system since the beginning of the distribution process. The City Council’s Black, Latino, and Asian Caucus (BLAC) has also called for the real-time reporting system.

A survey by the Kaiser Health Foundation revealed that white Americans have been receiving the vaccine as much as two or three times higher rates than Black Americans in at least 16 states. The survey did not include New York.

Adams' call was joined by Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, BetaNYC and several council members.

It comes as the city's vaccine distribution, though expanding in capacity, slows to a crawl as it runs out of its supply of doses from the federal government.

De Blasio said the city had 19,032 first doses remaining as of Monday — not nothing but a drop in the bucket for a city that has administered 628,831 total doses equivalent to the size of Louisville, Kentucky.

The shortfall prompted city vaccination centers to reschedule at least 23,000 first-dose appointments and temporarily shutter vaccination hubs. De Blasio on Monday said planned vaccine "mega sites" at Citi Field, Yankee Stadium and Empire Outlets have been postponed.