HHS to Invest $250M for Communities to Address Vaccine Inequities

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) Office of Minority Health (OMH) announced a new effort that will entail investing $250 million to encourage COVID-19 safety and vaccination among underserved populations.

The HHS office will offer the funding as health literacy grants to localities, who will partner with community-based organizations to reach racial and ethnic minority, rural and other vulnerable populations, according to officials.

The new initiative – Advancing Health Literacy to Enhance Equitable Community Responses to COVID-19 – is expected to fund approximately 30 projects in urban communities and 43 projects in rural communities for two years. Cities, counties, parishes or other similar subdivisions may apply for the funding, they added.

HHS noted that recipients are expected to develop a disparity impact statement using local data to identify racial and ethnic minority populations at highest risk for health disparities, low health literacy, and not being engaged or reached through existing public health messages and approaches for promoting COVID-19 public health recommendations.

From there, they will create and operationalize a health literacy plan, partnering with community-based organizations and adhering to culturally and linguistically appropriate standards, to increase the availability, acceptability and use of COVID-19 public health information and services by racial and ethnic minority populations and others considered vulnerable for not receiving and using COVID-19 public health information, officials stated.

It’s been well-documented that racial and ethnic minority populations experience higher rates of cases, hospitalizations and deaths related to COVID-19 infection. As such, social determinants of health (SDOH), such as housing, education and work conditions, contribute to these disparities. Underlying chronic conditions, such as kidney disease, diabetes and obesity, are more prevalent among minority populations and increase the risk of severe COVID-19 illness, HHS leaders stated.

As far as vaccinations, an analysis of recent data across 35 states, from the Kaiser Family Foundation, found that the vaccination rate among White people was over two and a half times higher than the rate for Hispanic people (13 percent vs. 5 percent) and nearly twice as high as the rate for Black people (13 percent vs. 7 percent).

"Information is power, especially the ability to understand and use information to support better health. Whether it helps us understand where to get tested or the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine, information is a crucial part of keeping families and communities safe," Acting Assistant Secretary for Health RADM Felicia Collins, M.D.  "Nowhere is this more important than in communities hit hardest by the pandemic, especially racial and ethnic minority communities and other vulnerable populations."

OMH will be accepting applications for this new initiative through April 20, 2021.