HELP BUILD VACCINE CONFIDENCE
AMONG HEALTH CENTER STAFF
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COVID-19 VACCINES: Facts at a Glance
Educating health center staff about the two COVID-19 vaccines currently available is an important step in building vaccine confidence. To learn more about the vaccines and find resources to share with health center staff go to CDC’s COVID-19 Communications Toolkit for Health Systems.
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BOTH FDA-APPROVED
COVID-19 VACCINES ARE SAFE
• Both COVID-19 vaccines were tested in clinical trials involving tens of thousands of people to make sure they meet safety standards and protect adults of different ages, races, and ethnicities. In fact, several health centers participated in the clinical trials.
• Although the vaccine development process was accelerated, no shortcuts were taken to verify its safety.
• Minor side effects include fever, chills, fatigue, headache, and swelling and/or pain in the vaccinated arm. Side effects are an indication that the vaccine is working.
• The CDC and the FDA will keep monitoring the vaccines to look for safety issues now that they are in use.
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COVID-19 VACCINATION
WILL HELP PROTECT YOU
FROM COVID-19
• An immune response is produced in the form of antibodies to protect your body against the virus.
• It may help keep you from getting severely ill, even if you do get COVID-19.
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PEOPE WHO HAVE GOTTEN SICK FROM THE COVID-19 VIRUS, MAY
STILL BENEFIT FROM VACCINATION
• People may be advised to get a
COVID-19 vaccine even if they have already had the virus. This is because a person can become infected with the virus more than once.
• At this time, experts do not know how long someone is protected from getting sick again after recovering.
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THE COVID-19 VACCINES ARE mRNA VACCINES
• mRNA vaccines teach our cells how to make a harmless piece of the “spike protein” for SARS-CoV-2.
• After the protein piece is made, the cell breaks down the instructions (the mRNA) and gets rid of them. mRNA vaccines ARE NOT made with the live virus that causes COVID-19. They WILL NOT give you the virus nor cause you to test positive for COVID-19.
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COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS IN ACTION
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COVID-19 CONVERSATIONS: Building Vaccine Confidence
This month, NACHC talks with Kenneth H. Mayer, M.D., Medical Research Director, Fenway Health and Co-Director, The Fenway Institute, about learnings from his team’s experience recruiting ethnically diverse populations to participate in COVID-19 vaccine trials. Fenway Health served as a clinical trial site for the COVID-19 vaccine developed by Oxford University and licensed to the pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca.
Fenway Health is a member of the COVID-19 Prevention Network, which was formed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to respond to the global pandemic. Through the COVID-19 Prevention Network, NIAID is leveraging the infectious disease and community engagement expertise of its existing research networks and global partners to address the pressing need for vaccines and antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus.
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ABC News.com Editorial Underscores Critical Role Health Centers Can Play During the COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout
In a recent ABCnews.com editorial, contributor Jay Bhatt, M.D. and instructor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health and Kavita Patel, M.D. and senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, underscored the essential role health centers can and need to play as part of a national strategy to roll out the COVID-19 vaccine. Their recommendations echo those NACHC has shared with President Biden’s transition team in the weeks leading up to the President’s inauguration last week.
This strategy involves accelerating vaccinations, when more vaccines are available, and directly addressing misinformation about the vaccine to reduce vaccine hesitancy. This is particularly a challenge in underserved communities where distrust, fear of illness, and literacy are barriers.
Drs. Bhatt and Patel outlined five ways community health centers can help support the national vaccine rollout. A summary of them is provided below. Click here to read the complete editorial.
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1. Enhance flexibility in fighting misinformation
Community health centers can offer information during the course of important primary care visits even if the patient or family member is not currently eligible for the vaccine. To do this, health centers would benefit from having flexibility on how to present science-based content provided by CDC and state and local health departments.
2. Take a data-driven approach
Distribute doses to community health centers in proportion to the populations they serve and how they have been impacted to date consistent with risk. Many health centers have served as primary testing centers, offering an incredible access point as facilitators and trusted partners for mass vaccination clinics.
3. Eliminate barriers to access
Most community health centers already know how to break through access to care barriers such as transportation and hours of operation. Using strategies such as mobile vans and partners such as churches and barber shops, health centers can share information, build trust, and deliver the vaccine.
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4. Engage nontraditional partners
Many health centers have relationships with area food banks, schools, and local businesses; these are all important distribution channels for information, as well as a mechanism to engage communities on their terms and in their context.
5. Create a patient ambassador
corps for the community
Health centers can identify, train, and support patients who plan or have gotten the vaccine as effective messengers. Through their stories and the trust others have in them, they can motivate others in the community who may be skeptical about the vaccine.
Drs. Blatt and Patel conclude with an important reminder: Overcoming vaccine hesitancy requires time, commitment, and meeting communities where they are at. We are at a critical moment, and delivering on vaccinations in communities disproportionately affected will go a long way in beating COVID-19.
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NACHC’s NEW COVID-19 Vaccination Distribution Microplanning Guide
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To help health centers prepare for mass COVID-19 vaccination efforts, NACHC has created a two-page guide and PowerPoint to outline each step of a COVID-19 vaccine rollout microplan.
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NEW COVID-19 Vaccine Posters and
I Got Vaccinated Social Media Images
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Building vaccine confidence among staff and patients takes many different forms of communication and outreach. To aid your communication efforts, NACHC has two new resources:
Posters: NACHC’s new COVID-19 vaccine posters (in standard printer size) can help health centers positively promote the vaccine.
Customizable social media graphics: Encourage staff and providers who have gotten the vaccine to share their experience on their social media channels with NACHC’s "I got vaccinated against COVID" social media graphics.
Both the posters and the social media graphics are available in English and Spanish.
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This publication is supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) as part of a financial assistance award totaling $2,000,000, with 100 percent funded by CDC/HHS. The contents are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily represent the official views of, nor an endorsement, by CDC/HHS, or the U.S. Government.
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