‘I don’t get it’: Residents in Hamilton’s least-vaccinated neighbourhood say they’re frustrated — and worried
Lately, when Chris Martino and his partner walk through their quiet north Hamilton neighbourhood, they've noticed something: more and more COVID-19 pop-up clinics.
We go for walks and say, Oh, there's a new pop-up centre, there's a new pop-up centre,'" said Martino, 32.
But there's another thing they've noticed.
There's never any lineups."
Martino lives off of MacNab and Picton streets in L8L - a neighbourhood that is home to the city's least-vaccinated forward sortation area or FSA (the first three characters of a postal code).
Already with two doses, Martino said he doesn't worry much for his own safety. He's held a consistent routine throughout the pandemic; masking, social distancing, avoiding large gatherings. I keep to myself," he said.
But his neighbourhood harbouring among the lowest vaccination rates in Ontario - with just less than half of its roughly 30,000 residents receiving two doses - comes as a surprise.
That is shocking, honestly," Martino said Wednesday, sitting on his front steps. I didn't know that."
L8L, a sprawling, densely populated area that stretches roughly from Bayfront Park to Ottawa Street, north of King Street, has inoculated the smallest proportion of residents out of nearly two dozen FSAs in Hamilton, according to data from the non-profit research institute ICES.
And that's despite targeted interventions such as early access to vaccines and several pop-up and mobile clinics, like the ones Martino has often seen in parks and recreation centres.
With just 59 per cent of its residents having at least one dose and 48 per cent receiving both, L8L is also the area in Hamilton where COVID is spreading the most.
Its test positivity of 8.2 per cent ranks highest in the city and seventh highest in Ontario.
For Dr. Cathy Risdon, a Hamilton physician and professor in the department of family medicine at McMaster University, that's no coincidence.
The Delta (variant) is incredibly contagious and is going to spread through the unvaccinated populations at really alarming rates," said Risdon. We're doing better than many parts of the world, but Delta is smarter than what we've been able to accomplish."
The Spectator spoke to more than a dozen double-vaccinated L8L residents this week. All said they are frustrated - and some worried - about the neighbourhood's paltry inoculation rate.
I am worried. I feel restricted that I have to wear a mask everywhere I go, because I don't know who's vaccinated and who isn't," said Lynda Gottlieb, 76, outside her home in the area of MacNab and Ferrie streets.
The ones that are vaccinated have to still protect the unvaccinated. I don't get it. It's frustrating."
Gottlieb has lived in L8L since 1956. She said it's a working-class neighbourhood, primarily made up of families east of James Street and retirees west of it.
According to Statistics Canada data from the 2016 census, L8L is among Hamilton's most economically disadvantaged areas with a median household income of $45,100 - far below the city average of $69,000.
It's a low-income neighbourhood," said Terri Googe, fresh off a Wednesday morning trip to Costco with Gottlieb. A lot of people here say they're not getting their vaccines. They say they're not putting a virus in their bodies. I wish they would, but, unfortunately, I can't force them."
A lot of people don't have transportation here, too," added Gottlieb. But that shouldn't stop them from getting a vaccine. We should be driving up to their house, giving them the shot, making it available."
Granted, improving access to vaccines in L8L has been a public health priority for months. It was one of five Hamilton FSAs designated in early April as a COVID hot spot, and there have been more pop-up inoculation sites there than in nearly every other FSA in the city.
The access component, it seems, is sound - but uptake is a different story.
Take the province's mobile GO-VAXX clinic - a GO bus retrofitted to offer walk-in vaccines - that was parked at Eastwood Park on Burlington Street East for more than 20 hours over the weekend. According to the Ministry of the Solicitor General, which manages the bus, just 56 out of a possible 324 doses were administered on Saturday and Sunday. The majority, 39, were second doses.
Another recent example of lagging uptake is the pop-up clinic at the Bennetto Recreation Centre on Hughson Street North held over six days last week.
Hamilton public health said out of a total of 632 doses, only 174 were administered to residents - 40 per cent of whom live in L8L.
The explanation for low vaccine rates is complicated and it is also important to note that, for some, the decision to be vaccinated is not always simple," public health said in an emailed statement, adding factors that influence a person's decision include cultural, economic (and) political" reasons.
Duane Hill, an L8L resident, said he's heard all kinds of kooky theories from his unvaccinated friends.
A lot of people think it's a big hoax, some just don't think (COVID) is real," said Hill, who's lived on Wood Street for 30 years. It doesn't surprise me we have a low rate."
Public health said its current focus is to adopt a localized approach in low-vaccinated neighbourhoods. That means improving access to vaccine information - in (their) own language, addressing specific concerns such as vaccine safety, efficacy" - and bringing the vaccine to the people.
Where this is not possible, (we) are providing bus tickets and taxi chits to help overcome transportation barriers," they said.
But easy access isn't the only answer, said Risdon, the family physician. She said vaccine hesitancy is part of a broader pattern that's been seen in Hamilton for decades. That is, that people from low-income areas don't just have worse access to COVID vaccines, but worse access to health care and health information in general.
The system was never designed for many of the folks who aren't getting vaccinated right now, and we're seeing the outcome of that."
Sebastian Bron is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach him via email: sbron@thespec.com