The Chicago CCVI identifies communities that have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19 and are vulnerable to barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake​. Vulnerability is defined as a combination of sociodemographic factors, epidemiological factors​, occupational factors​, and cumulative COVID-19 burden.

The 10 components of the index include COVID-19 specific risk factors and outcomes and social factors known to be associated with social vulnerability in the context of emergency preparedness. The CCVI is derived from ranking values of the components by Chicago Community Area, then synthesizing them into a single composite weighted score. The higher the score, the more vulnerable the geographic area.

ZIP Code CCVI is included to enable comparison with other COVID-19 data available on the Chicago Data Portal. Some elements of the CCVI are not available by ZIP Code. To create ZIP Code CCVI, the proportion of the ZIP Code population contributed by each Community Areas was determined. The apportioned populations were then weighted by the Community Area CCVI score and averaged to determine a ZIP Code CCVI score.

The COVID-19 Community Vulnerability Index (CCVI) is adapted and modified from a Surgo Ventures collaboration (https://precisionforcovid.org/ccvi) and the CDC Social Vulnerability Index​. ZIP Codes are based on ZIP Code Tabulation Areas (ZCTAs) developed by the U.S. Census Bureau. For full documentation see: https://www.chicago.gov/content/dam/city/sites/covid/reports/012521/Community_Vulnerability_Index_012521.pdf