COVID-19 Vaccination Site Accessibility, United States, December 11, 2020–March 29, 2022

• Published in: Emerging Infectious Diseases
• Main Authors: Randy Yee, David Carranza, Christine Kim, James Phillip Trinidad, James L. Tobias, Roma Bhatkoti, Sachiko Kuwabara
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2024-05-01
• Subjects: COVID-19; 2019 novel coronavirus disease; coronavirus disease; severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; SARS-CoV-2; viruses
• Online Access: https://wwwnc.cdc.gov/eid/article/30/5/23-0357_article
• ISSN: 1080-6040; 1080-6059

During December 11, 2020–March 29, 2022, the US government delivered ≈700 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to vaccination sites, resulting in vaccination of ≈75% of US adults during that period. We evaluated accessibility of vaccination sites. Sites were accessible by walking within 15 minutes by 46.6% of persons, 30 minutes by 74.8%, 45 minutes by 82.8%, and 60 minutes by 86.7%. When limited to populations in counties with high social vulnerability, accessibility by walking was 55.3%, 81.1%, 86.7%, and 89.4%, respectively. By driving, lowest accessibility was 96.5% at 15 minutes. For urban/rural categories, the 15-minute walking accessibility between noncore and large central metropolitan areas ranged from 27.2% to 65.1%; driving accessibility was 79.9% to 99.5%. By 30 minutes driving accessibility for all urban/rural categories was >95.9%. 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.