Design and Implementation of a Federal Program to Engage Community Partners to Reduce Disparities in Adult COVID-19 Immunization Uptake, United States, 2021-2022

Abstract

Vaccination disparities are part of a larger system of health inequities among racial and ethnic groups in the United States. To increase vaccine equity of racial and ethnic populations, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) designed the Partnering for Vaccine Equity program in January 2021, which funded and supported national, state, local, and community organizations in 50 states—which include Indian Health Service Tribal Areas; Washington, DC; and Puerto Rico—to implement culturally tailored activities to improve access to, availability of, and confidence in COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. To increase vaccine uptake at the local level, CDC partnered with national organizations such as the National Urban League and Asian & Pacific Islander American Health Forum to engage community-based organizations to take action. Lessons learned from the program include the importance of directly supporting and engaging with the community, providing tailored messages and access to vaccines to reach communities where they are, training messengers who are trusted by those in the community, and providing support to funded partners through trainings on program design and implementation that can be institutionalized and sustained beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Building on these lessons will ensure CDC and other public health partners can continue to advance vaccine equity, increase vaccine uptake, improve health outcomes, and build trust with communities as part of a comprehensive adult immunization infrastructure.

Practice-Based Research From the Frontlines: Selected Strategies for Reducing Health Disparities and Accelerating Progress Toward Health Equity in the United States

“…42 Instead, because health disparities are downstream outcomes of upstream inequities, addressing upstream structural determinants of health and SDoH is essential. Although Ashenafi et al 43 do not mention health equity approaches in their title, they advocate strategic reduction in disparities in COVID-19 immunization uptake through health equity principles, such as those described by Burton et al 44 Their study demonstrates the essential components of applying equity principles of interest holder analysis, engagement, and collaboration when designing federal programs to reduce disparities in adult COVID-19 immunization uptake. The case study shows that to achieve health equity, interventions should empower people through progress in equitable access to SDoH.…”