With a coordinated federal strategy and average daily vaccine doses approaching 2 million, there is reason for hope that states can reach their goals of vaccinating more than 150 million people by April. However, there are also early inequities that demand immediate attention. As states work to reach high-risk groups, they must also ensure that vaccines are distributed to communities of color, which have experienced disproportionately higher infection rates and mortality.
To achieve this goal, many states have refocused their efforts to target high-risk areas by leveraging community input and local resources. For example, in California, a new community mobile strike team will travel to high-ranking communities with populations that rank highly on the state’s social vulnerability index and deliver vaccines at neighborhood health centers, pharmacies, long term care facilities, and other locations.
Other states are using hospitalization and death data to identify local communities with the highest risk of COVID-19 infection. These areas are targeted by using state-funded grants to hire local health workers to distribute the vaccine at neighborhood clinics, pharmacies, and other venues.
At a February hearing of the US House Energy and Commerce Oversight and Investigations Subcommittee, State Health officials shared examples of balancing speed with equity as they developed vaccination strategies to reach high-risk populations. Several states, and the national Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, highlighted the importance of leveraging local community input and resources to build trust with vulnerable communities, a key element to advancing equitable vaccination strategies.