Disparities in Internet Access and COVID-19 Vaccination in New York City

Abstract

Although COVID-19 is a communicable disease, for many people it could also be a chronic disease (1). In New York City, COVID- 19 has had a greater effect on older populations, people living in the outer boroughs of the city’s 5 boroughs (eg, the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, compared with Manhattan), people living in poverty, and racial/ethnic minority populations (2). The availability of a COVID-19 vaccine can lessen the effect of the disease on these populations. As of this writing (April 15, 2021), people in New York City had to schedule an appointment to be vaccinated (3), with certain exceptions (4). Many New Yorkers who wanted to be vaccinated were not able to secure appointments, in part because the supply of COVID-19 vaccine was limited (5). Many public health and health care providers use online systems to schedule appointments; as a result, lack of internet access has been suggested as a potential barrier to vaccination (6). We created a map to visualize the community-level distribution of household internet access and COVID-19 vaccination in New York City.