DESIGN+Health
.svg)
Leading the charge in administering the COVID-19 vaccine to marginalized communities in California
DURATION
March - June 2021
ORGANIZATION
Safety Net Institute
ROLES
Co-lead (team of 4)
Research
Writing
Communication design
Background
As the major public health care entities in their counties, California's public hospital systems led the charge in vaccinating communities of color, low-wage essential workers, and other historically disadvantaged populations that have been disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. As fear and misinformation spread through communities, my team set out to connect leaders in the vaccination effort to share promising strategies to engage communities.
As the team co-lead, I interviewed 35 vaccine administration leaders across 15 public hospital systems in California. I wrote and designed a report to highlight promising practices for COVID-19 vaccinations. I also conducted a series of webinars to facilitate real-time knowledge exchange.
Research
INTERVIEWS
My team and I conducted interviews with 35 vaccine administration leaders at 15 public hospital systems across the state of California.
Data synthesis
I compiled and synthesized the notes from interviews, identifying the main themes to highlight and organizing the report around these insights. I pulled direct quotes and real-life examples of key initiatives implemented by hospitals to illustrate these themes.
CORE INSIGHTS
We identified three key strategies to increase vaccination rates among those most impacted:
Outputs
Public hospital systems are in it together.
As time went on, the unvaccinated population became increasingly hard to engage. Health system leaders expressed their appreciation for the report and webinar series, sharing that they "felt validated in that (1) others have tried the same things that we have and (2) there is no single intervention."
Equity work must be deliberate.
Multiple moments from the vaccine rollout demonstrated the tension between speed and equity. In one instance, public hospital systems quickly stood up mass vax sites with poor data collection processes, making it impossible to contact people for their second doses. In another, they attempted to target marginalized communities with vaccine access codes that ended up getting leaked on Twitter.
We learned that it takes time to cultivate intentional vaccination campaigns rooted in community engagement.
