COVID-19 vaccines are low in areas where eviction rates are high, report finds

• The Eviction Lab found vaccinations rates are low in areas where eviction filings are the highest.
• These evictions are happening despite a CDC eviction ban, which is set to expire on June 30.
• Several courts have ruled the ban unconstitutional, but this suggests COVID-19 cases will pick up along with evictions.

The eviction moratorium from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is set to expire at the end of June, but courts have begun overruling the ban, putting tenants at risk of eviction.

New data suggests that lifting the moratorium will not only increase evictions, but also increase the spread of COVID-19.

Insider reported last month that US District Judge Dabney Friedrich, the first judge to strike down the CDC's eviction ban nationwide, also issued an order keeping the ban in place for the time being because she agreed with the Department of Health and Human Services' projections that lifting the moratorium would amount to 433,000 additional cases of COVID-19. In other words, infection risk could go up with evictions.

Princeton University's Eviction Lab, which examines eviction data, released a report last week that found that in every jurisdiction the lab could locate data, eviction rates were higher in neighborhoods with lower vaccination rates.

It analyzed nine cities with sufficient data: Austin, Dallas, Fort Worth, Houston, Indianapolis, Philadelphia, Phoenix, New York, and South Bend, and found those most at risk of being evicted are still at high risk of contracting and passing on the virus.

"The COVID-19 pandemic is far from over, and while vaccination access is improving, it's still limited in disadvantaged communities that are at greatest risk for eviction," the report said. "The CDC eviction moratorium is, for many tenants behind on rent, the last remaining protection from the threat of displacement."

In Phoenix, for example, the average neighborhood with a low eviction filing rate of under 5% since the start of the pandemic had a vaccination rate of 56%, while the average zip code with a high eviction filing rate of above 15% had a vaccination rate of just 35%, according to the report.

The report also found that the relationship between eviction filings and vaccination rates is "deeply linked with race." Black renters routinely face higher eviction rates, and Black and Latinx people are also much less likely to be vaccinated against COVID-19, reflecting the higher transmission rates that would result when evictions restart.

The Eviction Lab's findings only further strengthen the concerns that experts, and judges, have had with lifting CDC's eviction ban early.

Since the eviction ban extension was implemented, multiple landlords have filed lawsuits questioning its legality, with multiple courts ruling the ban unconstitutional. These rulings came at a time when the Treasury Department still had $50 billion in emergency aid to give to renters, but the department needed to get the funds to renters quickly before the ban lifts and they're at risk of eviction.

The Alabama Association of Realtors, which sued to challenge the moratorium in Friedrich's case, argued landlords will lose $13.8 billion to $19 billion each month in unpaid rent as as a result of the moratorium. Landlords and housing organizations have been making this argument since the ban was implemented.

But some lawmakers and advocates are concerned with the implications of overruling the eviction ban and want to ensure that renters remain protected. Insider reported on April 26 that Washington became the first state to ensure that if its residents do get evicted, they will have access to legal aid.

Nevertheless, the CDC has not commented on whether its eviction ban will be extended past June 30. New York previously extended its own eviction ban through August, but if evictions pick up, the spread of COVID-19 might also pick up.

The report said: "As its expiration nears, few protections stand in the way of a family losing their home, and potentially contracting a life-threatening virus."