On the pandemic front, the good news is that COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death rates are all decreasing statewide. In addition, the COVID-19 vaccine from Johnson & Johnson has been approved by the FDA, which now provides a third immunization option beyond Pfizer and Moderna, and one which requires just one vaccination dose rather than two.

The bad news, however, is that throughout the country and especially within the boundaries of Bronx Community Board 7 (CB7), vaccination rates are alarmingly low.

At the latest meeting of CB7’s Health & Human Services Committee on Feb.22, committee members looked at the low rates, and discussed ways to improve them. Michelle Avila, committee chair, shared a slide presentation with localized data per zip code.

It revealed that zip codes like 10453, which covers Morris Heights, Mount Hope and University Heights, 10458, which covers Belmont, Fordham University and Kingsbridge, 10463, which covers parts of Kingsbridge, Marble Hill, Riverdale and Spuyten Dyvil, and 10467 which covers Norwood, Allerton, Pelham Parkway and Williamsbridge had single-digit vaccination rates.

By comparison, in the more affluent zip code 10471, which also includes parts of Riverdale, North Riverdale and Fieldston, 15 percent of adults had been fully vaccinated (20 percent as of March 3).

Some of the delays with the vaccination roll-out can been attributed to several weeks of severe winter weather which affected delivery of the medication from the Midwest states. However, Norwood News has also reported on a number of  other factors, including scams which may have also contributed to a slower pace of mass inoculation.

These ranged from skepticism on the part of the public regarding the safety of the vaccine, knowing how quickly it was researched and produced, to an initial, inadequate supply of doses received from the federal government by New York State, to confusion over how to schedule and secure an appointment.

For Avila, however, one factor trumped all others. “The [issue] I’d like for us to talk about tonight is how to get people who are very skeptical of the vaccine thinking about why it’s important to do this, and on a pathway to being more open to receiving the vaccine,” she said.

As a group, the committee agreed to improve outreach efforts to help educate the public on the safety and efficacy of vaccines. Almost all health officials are in agreement that a mass vaccination program is the best path forward in order to return to a normal, pre-pandemic routine. However, deciding on which age-group holds the greatest influence when it comes to vaccination education was a point of contention for the Board.

The approach committee member, Hugo Gonzalez, preferred entailed reaching out to school-age children to have them inform their parents on the vaccines. “I think a lot of the older folks are afraid that, ‘The government’s trying to get us, and they’re trying to poison us,’” Gonzalez said. He was more hopeful that a younger generation would propel older people to get the shot.

“If the younger folk take it, and they can see that they’re ok, then that would strongly motivate the older folks,” Gonzalez added. He especially sees such a scenario playing out in immigrant households, where parents may have limited, English-speaking abilities.

Fellow committee member, Untwain Fyffe, offered a different perspective on which group to target first with outreach efforts. “I find that it’s the older folks that are not so hesitant to take the vaccine,” he said. “From my perspective, that is because they are only getting their source of information from healthcare providers or just the news.”

By contrast, he said misinformation was more rampant on social media platforms that are more popular among young people. The committee hopes to hear more feedback from the public on the vaccine topic at the next committee meeting which will be held on March 16 at 6.30 p.m.

For trustworthy information on the vaccines and the research behind them, go to: https://www1.nyc.gov/site/doh/covid/covid-19-vaccine-facts.page. To schedule an appointment, go to: https://vax4nyc.nyc.gov/patient/s/ or call the State’s Vaccination Hotline on 1-833-697–4829. To find a vaccination site, go to: https://vaccinefinder.nyc.gov/locations.

Also, the turbovax site scans the websites of all providers offering the vaccine throughout the city and lists their available appointments.

*Síle Moloney contributed to this story.