Like everything else related to the last year of the ongoing pandemic, the stream of vaccination numbers — suddenly presented by the city in a remarkably effective map form — tell a familiar story of everyday disparity. Vaccination rates in a nearby zip code like 11237 sit plaintively at 4%, while numbers in the Upper West Side and Upper East Side coast safely about 10%. Unfortunately this appears to be the opposite of how the virus works: according to the city’s handy neighborhood data profiles, one can quickly find out that “One out of every 16 people in 11237 has been diagnosed with COVID-19,” so far. (The numbers in the greatly-vaccinated 10024 sit at “one out of every 29.”)
The struggle to vaccinate Bushwick is not without some trying — early in January, the city had opened one of its first “vaccination hubs” at the Bushwick Educational Campus and reports had pleasantly followed of socially distanced crowds ‘patiently awaiting their turn’ on Irving Avenue. But supply issues soon began to dodge the campus: late last month, the hub was among the dozen in the city that were forced to temporarily shutter because of a sudden shot shortage. (affected hubs included three others in Brooklyn, another four in Queens but only two in Manhattan.)
