Context: State health officials (SHOs), the executive and administrative leaders of state public health, play a key role in policy development, must be versed in the relevant/current evidence, and provide expertise about health issues to the legislature and the governor. Objective: To provide an empirical examination of SHO backgrounds and qualifications over time. Design, Setting, and Participants: Cross-sectional survey of current/former SHOs. Main Outcome Measures: State health official educational backgrounds; public health experience; previous employment setting. Results: Two-thirds of respondents (64.6%) reported having a medical degree, approximately half (48.3%) a formal public health degree, and almost one-quarter (21.8%) a management degree. The majority had governmental public health experience at some prior point in their career (70.0%). Almost two-thirds worked in governmental public health immediately before becoming an SHO. The proportion that was female increased significantly by decade from 5.6% in the 1970s/80s to 46.4% in the 2010s (P = .02). Conclusions: The main finding from this study shows that more than two-thirds of SHOs have had governmental public health experience at some point in their career. This is not a new trend as there were no statistical differences in public health experience by decade. More than half of the SHOs were appointed to the role directly from governmental public health, indicating that their public health experience is timely and likely germane to their appointment as SHO. Findings also indicate improvements in gender diversity among one of the most influential leadership roles in governmental public health whereas significant changes in racial and ethnic diversity were not identified. Women are increasingly being appointed as SHOs, indicating increasing gender diversity in this influential position. Given that governmental public health employees are predominantly women, there is still room for gender equity improvements in executive leadership roles. This is coupled with the need for further racial and ethnic diversity improvements as well.

These findings serve as a call to action for leaders in health departments as well as national public health leaders to remedy the concerns raised in their responses. Some of the solutions are within the realm of public health agency leadership, but some may fall within the realm of governors and public health leaders at the federal level. It is important to share these findings so that appropriate decision makers can address public health workforce retention and recruitment issues in the interest of retaining valuable employees.

Purpose New COVID-19 variants pose great challenges in protecting the success of vaccination programs. Awareness of community becomes an important component to prevent the spread of COVID-19. This study aims to analyze people’s awareness of COVID-19 and identify the implications for optimal risk communication in Vietnam. Study Methods and Materials A total of 341 individuals participated in an online cross-sectional study. Community awareness on COVID-19 was examined by using a structured questionnaire. Multivariable Tobit regression was used to examine associated factors with community awareness. Results Our results indicated high levels of awareness of local COVID-19 situation, transmission risks, and preventive behavioral practices during the first week of social isolation. Higher awareness of local pandemic situation was associated with female respondents (Coef.: 6.19; 95% CI: 0.51; 11.87) and larger family sizes of above 5 people (Coef.: 9.00; −1.00; 19.00). Respondents between 35–44 years old were shown to be less aware of preventive behavioral practices than other age groups, including the group of participants above 44 years old (Coef.: −0.34; 95% CI: −0.67; −0.02). Lastly, participants who were “fairly satisfied” with information resources had awareness levels of preventive behavioral practices lower than that of “unsatisfied” respondents (Coef.: −0.45; 95% CI: 0.74; −0.16). Conclusion This study offers crucial insights into the pandemic awareness of citizens and risk communication effectiveness during COVID-19 in Vietnam. The study findings shall serve the development of policies and interventions aimed at empowering individuals in the local and global fight against coronavirus.

State health officials (SHOs) lead state governmental public health agencies, playing an important role in their states. However, little comprehensive research has examined SHOs or characteristics of these leaders, limiting evidence about ways to improve SHO selection and subsequent performance. This brief describes the methods of the SHO-CASE study focused on current and former SHOs in state public health agencies. Methods used include qualitative components that informed the development of survey questions, survey administration, and survey response. A total of 147 SHOs responded to the SHO survey representing every state and Washington, District of Columbia. The SHO-CASE study survey database represents the most comprehensive database of its kind regarding a range of attributes of current and former SHOs. These data can be used to explore factors contributing to SHO success including valuable insights into effectively working with the states' elected officials.

OBJECTIVES/GOALS: Our research has three main aims: 1. Measure attitudes toward a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine among BIPOC. 2. Assess the effectiveness of race-conscious public health messages in changing attitudes toward a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. 3. Test the efficacy of financial incentives to increase uptake of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine. METHODS/STUDY POPULATION: We surveyed 784 unvaccinated residents of L.A. County. To recruit participants, we collaborated with Qualtrics. The survey randomized participants to one of three public health messages, as well as one of two financial compensation schemes. Twenty-five participants completed semi-structured interviews via Zoom or telephone. Interviews were audio recorded, translated into English if needed, and transcribed. The inductive, semi-structured interview guide focused on three domains: i) concerns and distrust toward a COVID vaccine, ii) policy interventions and/or government action related to a COVID vaccine, iii) non-pharmacological policy interventions related to the COVID-19 pandemic. Major emergent themes were identified and analyzed using Watkins (2012) team analysis of qualitative data steps. RESULTS/ANTICIPATED RESULTS: Many BIPOC remain vaccine hesitant: 2/3 of the survey respondents stated that they did not intend to or were not sure if they planned to get vaccinated. Follow-up interviews show that fear of vaccine side effects, bodily autonomy in choosing to get vaccinated are major concerns. However, public health measures like masking and physical distancing remain preferred safety methods for BIPOC residents. Misinformation and overcommunication in public health messaging concerning vaccine eligibility may be a major barrier to vaccine uptake among BIPOC. DISCUSSION/SIGNIFICANCE: Real world financial compensation mechanisms need to provide large enough compensation to avoid a crowding out of altruistic vaccination motivations and to effectively incentivize increased vaccine uptake. Additionally, short race-conscious public health messages were ineffective at improving vaccine attitudes.