Equivax: A Model Program for Equitable Vaccine Distribution

The COVID-19 vaccine was disproportionally distributed to White Americans over Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Americans when first available. Vaccine hesitancy and mistrust amongst BIPOC communities was prevalent during the pandemic and Black Americans had worse health outcomes from COVID-19 compared to White Americans (citations available). To address these issues in a major metropolitan community, an interprofessional team of a primary care physician, nurse, and computer technology expert, created Equivax, a volunteer-driven project to equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccine to a large number of community members including those living with the greatest health disparities.Implementation: Procedures for Equivax included strong community partnerships; a model for clinic design and standards; supporting technology; a community volunteer pool, including volunteer nurses, physicians, and dentists; and vaccine consent forms in six languages along with volunteer interpreters. Vaccinations were administered at local community centers and high schools. The Equivax team partnered with community-based organizations (CBOs) to allow for priority registration for community members, avoiding mass first-wave registrations of people not living in each of the communities. Every clinic was also open to walk-ups.Evaluation plan: Demographics were collected for registrants and demonstrated that Equivax is an efficient clinic model for equitably distributing a large number of vaccinations to communities facing language, cultural, insurance, and technology barriers. Partnering with CBOs addressed vaccine hesitancy and distrust in institutions.Outcome(s) and significance: Equivax became the main vaccine clinic model for the County Department of Public Health. Over 900 community volunteers registered in the Equivax volunteer pool. In total, about 106,000 doses of COVID-19 vaccine were administered using the Equivax model in a three-month period. The vaccine reached a wide cross-section of the population, including many described as underserved. An example of demographics of people served at one clinic site included 84% BIPOC, 61% uninsured or underinsured, and 31% who did not speak English.