The Deeper Dig is a biweekly podcast from the VTDigger newsroom, hosted and produced by Sam Gale Rosen. Listen below, and subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify or anywhere you listen to podcasts.
At a Covid-19 vaccine clinic in Beecher Falls last week, residents of Vermont’s most rural county dutifully lined up to get their first dose.
“You should take your shot no matter what,” said Benoit Lemay. “It’s just common sense, that’s all.”
But many Essex County residents haven’t taken the opportunity — or haven’t had one. The county’s vaccination rate trails the rest of the state.
Geography likely plays a role. Essex County has about 10 residents per square mile. Drive times are long, and there are no pharmacies or hospitals in the entire county. Most receive their health care across the border in New Hampshire — where vaccine doses are being reserved for New Hampshire residents.
The clinic in Beecher Falls was one of three locations where vaccines are periodically being offered. The state is working to close the gap, said Mike Smith, secretary of the Agency of Human Services, at a press conference Friday. Local EMS agencies will hold mobile clinics in nine locations on April 10 and 11, and the state is in discussions with a health provider in New Hampshire on expanding access.
But Canaan residents say the disparities are also likely rooted in other deep-seated cultural and logistical barriers. On this week’s podcast, VTDigger’s Katie Jickling discusses vaccine equity in Essex County.
