HEALTH ILLUSTRATION BY JENNIFER CHAVEZ
Vaccine Disparity Grows in Chicago’s South Suburbs
Slow vaccine rollout still looming large in south suburban Harvey, Calumet City, Dolton, and beyond as residents face long-standing inequities. BY JACQUELINE SERRATO AND ALMA CAMPOS
T
here isn’t a clear border that distinguishes Chicago from the suburbs to the south. In fact, the South Side of Chicago appears to continue for miles on end, as historic north-south streets like State, Halsted, Western, and Pulaski run seamlessly into the suburbs. Infrastructure that is characteristic of the city can also be found in these towns, 14 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
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sometimes at higher concentrations, like certain housing stock, industrial corridors, railways, bridges, and even air and water pollution. Their demographics are predominantly Black and brown, with a high percentage of essential workers. Some things do change, however, as people leave the City of Chicago and enter small municipalities in Illinois. The local
politics are more self-contained, public services vary, there’s a modest corporate footprint, local media outlets are few, and access to healthcare is inconsistent. So when COVID-19 hit Chicago aggressively in the spring of 2020, particularly so on the city’s South Side, nearby suburban residents could only brace themselves for what was to come.
Of the thirty-two municipalities that County officials identified as the most vulnerable at the height of COVID-19, half of them were in the south suburbs— twelve of them are clustered right outside the city boundaries: Blue Island, Calumet Park, Riverdale, Dolton, Burnham, Calumet City, Robbins, Posen, Dixmoor, South Holland, Harvey, and Markham.
