Southern Economic Advancement Project/FairCount: Creating vaccine equity in Georgia

Inside the dashboard SEAP and FairCount have created to support their campaign to ensure vaccine access in vulnerable communities across the state.

divider

The data

The dashboard contains two main data sets. The American Community Survey from 2015-2019 was used to display community characteristics and potential access constraints, like car ownership. Vaccination site location information comes from the Georgia Department of Public Health and from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s VaccineFinder along with a comprehensive Google search to capture commercial retailers offering vaccines. Both data sets are linked by zip code and county values.

The visualization

We had two goals in designing the viz. The first was to show all existing vaccination sites on a searchable map. Second, we aimed to show the characteristics and challenges that communities may be facing in actually reaching the existing vaccination sites. We used a heat map to show the magnitude of constraints, and overlaid the sites with a circle mark. The dashboard is also filterable by zip code and indicators for ease of use.

The historical context

The potential barriers to vaccine access in the dashboard, from poverty level to vehicle ownership to in-home computing, reflect systemic inequities and disinvestment often seen in communities of color. In the das Similarly, the unequal presence of vaccination sites in these communities reflects the fact that addressing inequities is often not considered in policy response. This viz aims to support a data-driven approach to understanding and overcoming longstanding inequities.

The current implications

With this dashboard, SEAP and FairCount are able to access a real-time view of vaccine resources available in a community, and understand the barriers residents may face in getting a vaccine. Volunteers are able to use the dashboard to inform their outreach in communities—not only are they able to direct residents to their nearest vaccination site, but they can understand what kind of additional support residents may need to get there. Equitable access depends on ensuring residents' needs are fully considered and met, and this dashboard enables that approach.

divider

Data Deep-Dive

Key takeaways to guide analysis

Understanding transportation barriers

A large number of counties from East to Southwest Georgia have low rates of vehicle availability—and there are limited options for vaccination sites.

An intersectional view

Filtering potential constraints by race shows a more nuanced view into the challenges communities face: In Wilkinson County, 22% of people overall report having no health insurance; but that goes up to 89.1% for the Hispanic/Latino community.

Centering those most at risk

When filtering for the share of population with diagnosed diabetes, the dashboard shows the highest rates in counties with fewer vaccine sites—pointing to the need for more resources in the most vulnerable communities.