CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (AP) — Two predominantly Latino cities in neighboring states have had diverging fates in the global rollout of the coronavirus vaccine. Central Falls, Rhode Island, and Chelsea, Massachusetts, have been the states’ hardest-hit communities in the pandemic. But Rhode Island has opened up vaccinations to all Central Fall residents 18 or older. City officials say they’re on pace to inoculate most residents by the summer. Massachusetts, meanwhile, hasn’t done the same for Chelsea or other hard-hit communities of color. Public health experts, civil rights groups and immigrant activists have complained for months that the state isn’t doing nearly enough to ensure that Black and Latino residents are inoculated.
2 hard-hit cities, 2 diverging fates in vaccine rollout
