Vaccine access codes for Black, Latino communities improperly used in affluent LA areas
Julia Wick, Los Angeles Times
Feb. 22, 2021
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LOS ANGELES A California program intended to improve COVID-19 vaccine availability to people in hard-hit communities of color is being misused by outsiders who are grabbing appointments reserved for residents of underserved Black and Latino areas.
The program to address inequities in vaccine distribution relies on special access codes that enable people to make appointments on the My Turn vaccine scheduling website. The codes are provided to community organizations to distribute to people in largely Black and Latino communities.
But those codes have also been circulating, in group texts and messages, among the wealthier, work-from-home set in Los Angeles, the Los Angeles Times has learned. Many of those people are not yet eligible for the vaccine under state rules.