We will be told this isn't racism because "equity":
"If you're a person of color, you can move forward and schedule a vaccine appointment if there is an opening. But if you're white, you are automatically placed on a standby list. This bars you from continuing the process."
The scheduling software in question is run by one provider, the African American Reach and Teach Health Ministry (AARTH), which says their funding mandate is to "reach people of color."
"The first list, according to [AARTH consultant Twanda Hill], is a waitlist for people of color, should a vaccine appointment open up. If the waitlist is emptied and vaccine availabilities eventually open up, only then will a white person on the standby list be contacted.
This policy effectively bars white people from accessing taxpayer funded vaccines set up through the state. Hill argues their system isn't truly exclusionary. A small percentage of white people on the standby list make it through. She also notes that people who lie about their race won't be turned away."
The state department of health has reportedly refused "to directly answer whether or not vaccine providers may discriminate on the basis of race."
Another spokesperson for the organization say that they want to "address current inequities and barriers to accessing vaccine, and get the people who are at highest risk vaccinated first while federal vaccine supply remains limited."
The problem with that sCiEnCe is that it doesn't follow the ACTUAL science of who is at risk:
"Under the current process, an older white person with obesity and cancer is at a higher risk than a young and healthy black person. Yet the white Washingtonian would be denied access based exclusively on his skin color at AARTH. Why? Because, according to Mayes, 'dealing with racism is a stressor that is bad for health and life expectancy.'"
Translation: subjective feelings over scientific fact.
"The [Department of Health] appears to assume that all people of color are poor, thus have inequitable access to vaccines. If you're white, the DOH presumes you to have privilege, thus easy access to vaccines. But the truth is people of all races experience access issues due to their socio-economic status."
