Study: Time to walk, drive to COVID vaccination sites may have deterred some – University of Minnesota Twin Cities

Edwin J. Torres, NJ Governor's Office / Flickr cc

The ability to quickly walk or drive to US COVID-19 vaccination sites in the first 2 years of the pandemic ranged widely by jurisdiction and urban or rural area, which may have led to missed opportunities for uptake, according to a newstudy in Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Researchers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) assessed the accessibility of COVID-19 vaccination sites from December 2020 to March 2022.

The authors noted that the major barriers to vaccine coverage are transportation costs, opportunity costs, and time to travel to vaccination sites, per a previous governmental analysis. "The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has provided recommendations to jurisdictions with regard to the planning of convenient COVID-19 vaccination sites especially those with populations of homebound persons or persons living in remote places," they wrote.

Of the 131,951 total vaccination sites, 57,064 were pharmacies, 35,728 were medical practices, 10,606 were community health sites, 5,222 were hospitals, and 23,331 were of unknown or other type.

Nearly half of all physically able vaccine seekers (46.6%) could walk to COVID-19 vaccination siteswithin 15 minutes, while 74.8% could make the journey in 30 minutes, 82.8% could be there in 45 minutes, and 86.7% could do so within 60 minutes.

Walking time variations across jurisdictions and between urban/rural areas indicate that potential gains could have been made by improving walkability or making transportation more readily available.

In socially vulnerable areas, accessibility by walking was greater, at 55.3%, 81.1%, 86.7%, and 89.4%, respectively. Fifteen-minute walking accessibility in noncore urban areas ranged from 27.2% to 65.1%.

By car, accessibility ranged from 27.2% by 15 minutes to 52.7% by 60 minutes in noncore urban areas and 65.1% to 97.7%, respectively, in large cities.

"Knowledge of the functional proximity to vaccine sites for different populations is essential for effective planning and for ensuring equity of health resource access in public health emergencies," the researchers wrote. "Walking time variations across jurisdictions and between urban/rural areas indicate that potential gains could have been made by improving walkability or making transportation more readily available."

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Study: Time to walk, drive to COVID vaccination sites may have deterred some - University of Minnesota Twin Cities