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Case Reports
. 2022 Aug 11;7(8):177.
doi: 10.3390/tropicalmed7080177.

Using Community Engagement and Geographic Information Systems to Address COVID-19 Vaccination Disparities

Tsu-Yin Wu  1 , Xining Yang  2 , Sarah Lally  1 , Alice Jo Rainville  3 , Olivia Ford  4 , Rachel Bessire  1 , Jessica Donnelly  1
Affiliations
Case Reports

Using Community Engagement and Geographic Information Systems to Address COVID-19 Vaccination Disparities

Tsu-Yin Wu et al. Trop Med Infect Dis. .

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated existing health disparities and had a disproportionate impact on racial and ethnic minority groups in the United States. Limited COVID-19 data for Asian Americans have led to less attention for this population; nevertheless, available statistics have revealed lesser known impacts of COVID-19 on this population. Even with significant increases in vaccine supply and recent increases in COVID-19 vaccination rates, racial and ethnic disparities in vaccine uptake still persist. These disparities are amplified for individuals with limited English proficiency (LEP). The purpose of this paper is to apply community-engaged and geographic information system (GIS) strategies to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccination uptake by decreasing the structural barriers to COVID-19 vaccine uptake, with a particular focus on Asian Americans with LEP. Building upon existing community-academic partnerships between the academic unit and community-based organizations, the project team established community-led mobile and pop-up COVID-19 vaccination clinics to reach underserved individuals in their communities, worked with commercial pharmacies and reserved appointments for community-based organizations, used GIS to establish COVID-19 vaccination sites close to communities with the greatest need, and deployed trusted messengers to deliver linguistically and culturally relevant COVID-19 vaccine messages which built vaccine confidence among the community members. The implementation of mobile clinics expanded COVID-19 vaccine access and community-driven, multi-sector partnerships can increase the capacity to enhance efforts and facilitate access to COVID-19 vaccination for hard-to-reach populations.

Keywords: Asian Americans; SARS-CoV-2; communities of color; geographic information system (GIS); minority; vaccine access.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
EMU CHDIS mobile clinics vs. COVID-19 vaccination provider locations.
Figure 2
Figure 2
EMU CHDIS mobile clinics vs. Asian American populations.
Figure 3
Figure 3
EMU mobile clinics vs. Michigan overall population COVID-19 vaccine completion percentage by county.
Figure 4
Figure 4
EMU mobile clinics vs. percent of population with no health insurance coverage.
Figure 5
Figure 5
EMU mobile clinics vs. percent of population 18 to 64 years in households with no computer.
Figure 6
Figure 6
EMU mobile clinics vs. CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index in Michigan Census Tracts.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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