BY ROBBIE SEQUEIRA
Democratic mayoral candidate
Eric Adams was in the
Crotona section of the Bronx
on Friday, Oct. 15, addressing
one of the borough’s longstanding
issues, health equity.
In the South Bronx, the
poorest urban congressional
district in the country, the population
suffers high rates of diabetes,
obesity, heart disease,
asthma, HIV/AIDS and infant
mortality. A few comorbidities
including asthma and heart
disease led to high COVID hospitalizations
and fatalities in
the Bronx.
Adams, the incumbent
Brooklyn borough president,
said he wants the city to “scale
up” its vaccine incentive programs
to low-income communities
such as the Crotona section,
through organizations
such as SOMOS Community
Care, which has a network of
providers throughout the city.
SOMOS Community Care
has administered 1.5 million
vaccines in New York City.
However, the Bronx is still the
second-lowest vaccinated borough
with just 67% of the population
receiving one dose of the
vaccine, entering Friday.
Additionally, the 61-yearold
Adams wants to increase
funding for volunteer networks
like New York Cares and
low-to-no-cost health insurance
agencies like Metro Plus
so that people can be eligible
for healthcare without needing
to go through NYC Health
+ Hospitals system.
Adams was blunt in his assessment
of the city’s healthcare
outreach in low-income
areas, which includes disproportionate
COVID-19 fatalities
among the city’s Black
and brown populations, saying
“our government has failed
these communities.”
Another part of Adams’
plan would be to turn COVID
vaccination sites in low-income
communities into permanent
healthcare centers, an
effort, he believes, will lead to
better health outcomes for minorities.
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, O 38 CT. 22-28, 2021 BTR
NYC’s poorest neighborhoods,
which also have the
highest proportion of Black
and Hispanic residents, have
death rates which are 30%
higher than those in wealthier
neighborhoods.
Adams furthered his assessment,
stating that the city
needs to shift its fundings and
initiatives toward preventative
health care or risk economic
shortfalls by not addressing
the root of chronic illness in its
residents.
“COVID only really amplifi
ed how bad our ‘sickcare’ system
is,” he said. “We don’t have
a healthcare system … We wait
until you’re sick and we give
you medicine to cure the symptoms
of your sickness. We are
saying that must stop.”
Communities with more
Black or Hispanic residents,
according to BMC Public
Health, were most vulnerable
to COVID-19 due to a number of
race, poverty and ethnic-based
systemic issues and risk factors
Eric Adams, the Democratic mayoral candidate, stopped in the Crotona
section of the Bronx on Friday, calling on preventative care for the city’s
low-income, health-plagued neighborhoods. Photo Adrian Childress
that have been linked to
lack of healthcare access and
existing comorbidities in those
communities.
Bronx leaders such as Democrat
Bronx Borough President
Ruben Diaz Jr., and New
York City Councilman Oswald
Feliz, a Democrat, joined Adams
in encouraging vaccinations
for COVID-19 as well as
infl uenza.
Health offi cials are pushing
Americans to get their fl u shot
to help build back immunity
and avoid possibly getting COVID
and the fl u together, and
avoiding a “twindemic” of fl u
and coronavirus spikes.
Adams is the heavy favorite
in the Nov. 2 general election
as he faces Republican
nominee Curtis Sliwa, due to
the city’s wide margin of registered
Democrats to Republicans.
Eric Adams talks health
equity in Crotona stop
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