Bucks Immunization Coalition among recipients of immunization access and education grants

The Pennsylvania Chapter of the American Academy of Pediatrics (PA AAP) and the Pennsylvania Immunization Coalition (PAIC) have awarded 16 state and local organizations and immunization coalitions with grants to address access to and education around vaccines, particularly the COVID-19 vaccine.
Driven by current data surrounding COVID-19 cases, hospitalizations and deaths as well as anti-vaccine rhetoric circulating in communities, the PA AAP and PAIC designed the grant to address equity, engagement, access and resource barriers related to communities’ vaccine uptake, or lack thereof.
Of the 20 applications received after promotion across various provider and health networks, the following 16 groups were awarded funding up to $100,000: Allegheny County Immunization Coalition, Berks County Immunization Coalition, Bucks County Immunization Coalition, Chester County Immunization Coalition, Crawford Health Improvement Coalition, Delaware Immunization Coalition, Lancaster County Immunization Coalition, Montgomery County Immunization Coalition, Schuylkill County Immunization Coalition, Tioga County Immunization Workgroup, ACLAMO, Blue Prints/WIC, Duquesne University – Dr. Khlood Salman, PA Polio Survivors Network, Vaccine Education Center – CHOP and the Medical Reserve Corps.
Grant funds will be utilized for an array of efforts, including but not limited to facilitating direct community outreach through educational campaigns and activities, build local capacity by hiring term-limited staff to conduct communications or program-related work, generating one-on-one or small group engagement for health education and address vaccine questions and organizing pop-up or targeted immunization clinics.

“It is more important than ever to achieve high COVID-19 vaccination rates and maintain routine lifespan, influenza immunizations, and cancer preventing immunizations like HPV and Hepatitis B. As vaccine skepticism and misinformation inhibit our efforts, it remains imperative that our communities reduce transmission of COVID-19 and prevent outbreaks of all vaccine-preventable diseases,” said PAIC Chairperson Lyn B. Robertson.
“The PA AAP and PAIC are hopeful that our work with these partner organizations, now grant awardees, will yield stronger immunization rates and build community faculty around vaccine-related information.”
The grant period for year one of this initiative runs from Dec. 10, 2021 to June 30, 2022 at which time the PA AAP and PAIC will evaluate, in full, the impact of the funding on vaccine uptake and existing barriers to immunization. For information on the grant and future grant opportunities, contact Kayla Knock, MPH, immunization program manager, at kknock@paaap.org.