NACCHO Awards $1.35 Million To Local Health Departments To Support Identifying And Addressing Inequities In Adult Flu And COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage Among Racial And Ethnic Populations

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), the voice of the country’s nearly 3,000 local health departments, with support from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has selected nine local health departments to participate as host sites in Cohort I of the Partnering for Vaccine Equity Project. They are:

• Bent County Public Health, Colorado

• Hall County Board of Health, Georgia

• Dent County Health Center, Missouri

• Central District Health Department, Nebraska

• Two Rivers Public Health Department, Nebraska

• Trumbull County Combined Health District, Ohio

• South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control, South Carolina

• Paris-Lamar County Health District, Texas

• Monongalia County Health Department, West Virginia

Over the past three flu seasons, vaccination coverage has increased among adults; however, racial, and ethnic disparities in flu vaccination coverage remain, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Adults from racial and ethnic minority groups have lower flu vaccination rates and higher rates of severe flu illness and flu-related morbidity and mortality compared to non-Hispanic White adults. This same trend of low vaccination and high morbidity and mortality is documented for COVID-19.
Disparities in vaccination coverage, especially among racial and ethnic minority adults, contribute to and further exacerbate existing health inequities. The Partnering for Vaccine Equity project seeks to support local health departments to improve COVID-19 and influenza vaccination coverage because it is an important approach for improving the overall health and economic opportunity for historically-marginalized groups and advancing health equity in communities.
The Partnering for Vaccine Equity Project focuses on increasing local health departments’ capacity to address inequities in COVID-19 and influenza vaccination coverage among racial and ethnic minority adults to increase vaccination uptake. This work will be achieved by collaborating with local health departments to identify and address barriers to vaccines, engage community stakeholders and influential messengers to support vaccine messaging, provide education and vaccine delivery at the community level, and facilitate relationships between vaccine providers and the community to increase vaccine confidence, access, and uptake opportunities. The project will run through December 31, 2022. To learn more about the NACCHO Immunization portfolio, please visit our webpage here.

About NACCHO

The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) represents the nation's nearly 3,000 local governmental health departments. These city, county, metropolitan, district, and tribal departments work every day to protect and promote health and well-being for all people in their communities. For more information about NACCHO, please visit www.naccho.org.