New York is lagging behind at least 17 other states in releasing the race and ethnicity of those who have received the COVID-19 vaccine.

Alice Green, with the Center for Law and Justice, says the Black community still very much remembers this country’s history of medical abuse and testing on African Americans.

This has led to many in these communities to voice hesitancy when it comes to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine.

“It’s across the board,” Green explained. "Very, very many people are hesitant to become vaccinated."

The Black and Hispanic populations were also the hardest hit by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The governor’s advisor, Gareth Rhodes, has said in the past that demographic data will be released at some point in the “near future.”

However, Green explains that this information would be helpful now since the center is actively working to educate low-income black communities in Albany on the vaccine.

“I would love to see the statistics we now have,” Green said. “Are we reaching the people we want to reach? Do we need to change our message? What else do we need to do?”

This demographic information could also be useful when it comes to distribution since there is such a limited supply of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Some locations have a wait lists that stretch past April.  

“The vaccine is scarce,” Governor Andrew Cuomo acknowledged during his press conference. “Everyone wants more.”

Gary Velasquez, CEO of a company called Cogitativo, is working on a federal project with the VA that identifies who is more at risk of catching COVID-19, therefore potentially helping the government prioritize who should receive the vaccine first.

How it works is a computer algorithm, using insurance information, takes into account different factors such as age, health, where they live, air quality in the region, their housing density and more to help determine who is the most vulnerable.

“We have done this work in California and we are about to kick off this work with the VA,” Velasquez explained. “I think the more precision we can bring to this the better. And we’re not sacrificing precision for efficiency. We scored 20 million people in four days. So we can move quickly.”

New York has distributed over 1.7 million vaccines so far.