It would seem that it's not possible to automate the vocoder's parameters in any way inside of a sequencer the same way that all of the virus's other functions are. For example I can obviously set the channel to "latch" in logic 9 and turn the cutoff knob - that is saved as automation as expected, but nothing for vocoder spectral balance, carrier spread, etc.. these simply do not exist.
thanks in advance
edit: upon more experimenting and reading the manual it seems that those parameters are translated to filter settings, it would still be nice to have them automatable by their exact names in the host.