“It looked like Ward 3 was being punished for being more familiar with computers,” said Mary Cheh, a member of the city council who represents the station, who routinely has homes near American University or the Potomac River sold for more than $ 2 million. “I was inundated with emails from people who were just really angry about it.”
The day after the policy change, Ms. Cheh wrote to constituents, quoting the shooting data, and saying that “our fear of getting one right away shouldn’t tarnish the pursuit of fair vaccine distribution.”
“When I sent this message, people were like, ‘Oh, thanks, I understand now,” Ms. Cheh said. Still, she called the city’s new system “a very blunt instrument” and said it was fairer to meet the needs of that Basing the risk of an individual, not that of a whole neighborhood.
70-year-old Adora Iris Lee lives in one of Washington’s most important neighborhoods – Congress Heights, part of Ward 8 in the southern part of the district, which is severely black and has seen the highest number of Covid deaths. She said she was on hold for more than three hours but was given appointments for herself and her mother, who is 93 years old.
“Being able to call at a time that was reserved for us was good for me,” said Ms. Lee. “People who live in Station 3 and people who live in Station 8 have different social realities. We’re not kidding. “
Even so, Mr. Jones of Bread for the City said that even with the new system, hardly any of the people who came to his clinic for admissions were his regular patients. The clinic began reaching out to its regulars and, with the permission of the city, reserved all first doses for them and for clients of other social organizations last week.
“It’s not just about keeping the seats for the people,” said Jones. “Somehow we have to persuade them to use these spots.”
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