Partners in Action

The COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project is comprised of more than 240 leading organizations representing patients, caregivers and families, diverse communities, healthcare workers, older Americans, veterans, frontline workers, and scientists aimed at convening a dialogue around vaccine education. Many of our partners work tirelessly on the front lines and behind the scenes to help fight the pandemic and encourage vaccine confidence.

By sharing their stories, we hope to highlight the trailblazing efforts of the individuals, organizations and their leaders as they create opportunities for dialogue and education and work to ensure that everyone has equitable access to the COVID-19 vaccines.

USA Boxing

For decades, USA Boxing has brought together local communities across the country for events to celebrate their shared interest in Olympic-style amateur boxing. In light of the COVID-19 pandemic, USA Boxing took rigorous efforts to keep both their boxers and spectators safe. These efforts set the stage for taking the next step in protecting the boxing community — sharing information about the importance of COVID-19 vaccination and encouraging people to get vaccinated. In alignment with USA Boxing’s “one team, one nation, going for gold” mission, USA Boxing facilitated “Knockout COVID-19,” a community-driven event that demonstrated that a vaccine works best when everyone in the community has the confidence to be vaccinated.

USA Boxing also invited local boxing chapters and gyms to participate in the program by hosting their own “Knockout COVID-19” event. Each participating chapter received a micro-grant from USA Boxing and a customized “host toolkit,” which included a video, COVID-19 vaccine fact sheets, posters, and social content. With these materials, local chapters hosted meaningful, community-driven events highlighting the importance of getting vaccinated against COVID-19.

To learn more about USA Boxing, visit: teamusa.org/usa-boxing.

American Association of Critical-Care Nurses

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) is the largest specialty nursing organization in the world, representing more than 500,000 nurses who are charged with the responsibility of caring for acutely and critically ill patients. Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, AACN has provided a broad range of clinical resources on best care for patients and how nurses can protect themselves from infection. For example, their Pulmonary, ARDS, and Ventilator Online Course is a free online and self-paced course that immerses nurses in real-world ICU scenarios to build confidence for safe and effective practices for patients with COVID-19.

AACN has also championed the need to protect frontline nurses’ physical and mental health. Their “Hear Us Out” campaign is a nationwide effort advocating for the acute and critical care nursing community. The campaign mobilizes nurse voices to outline the dangers of COVID surges, encourages those who have yet to be vaccinated to reconsider, and invites allies to join the effort to increase vaccination rates. As part of the campaign, the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project partnered on a video with AACN featuring frontline nurses encouraging people to get vaccinated. Additionally, their COVID-19 Support Podcast Series features intimate conversations with guest nurses from around the country, whose COVID-19 experiences and insight help support, guide and inspire.

With hospitals experiencing surges in COVID patients and staffing shortages, AACN has worked closely with leading organizations and government entities to help find solutions and develop strategies that address the crisis in acute and critical care staffing.

To learn more about the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses and access AACN’s coronavirus resources, visit: aacn.org.

El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center 

 

El Sol Neighborhood Educational Center (El Sol) is a non-profit organization whose mission is to serve the educational needs of non-English speaking populations and provide resources for the underserved communities of San Bernardino and Riverside Counties. Since the start of the pandemic, El Sol has advocated the importance of being prepared by spreading awareness and creating bilingual resources for members in their community, particularly those most heavily impacted by COVID-19.

El Sol’s multimedia resources are creative, culturally relevant, and suitable for people of all ages. The Captain Empath Vs Covid-19 comic strips and corresponding posters, activity book, and booklets educate and motivate community members to get vaccinated and stop the spread. Their “Time to Heal” song and tool kit serve as a guide on how to self-reflect on mental health and cope after a traumatic experience, such as living through a pandemic. The tool kit includes a weekly mental health check-in plan, a guide for self-care planning, healing plans, an emotional healing map, support group outlines, videos of real stories, song lyrics, and fact sheets related to mental health—all in both Spanish and English. The “Official Covid-19 En Español” song shares an entertaining and optimistic message to encourage safety precautions and vaccinations in the Hispanic community. The song’s tool kit includes video and audio clips and digital graphics covering how to get tested, proper mask usage and hand washing, the vaccine, contact tracing, and community solidarity. Check out all these projects and more on El Sol’s Covid-19 Response page.

Beyond multimedia, in 2021, El Sol helped facilitate the vaccination of more than 20,000 people and distributed 7,000 COVID aid kits to community members.

To learn more about El Sol, check out this video in English or Spanish, or visit: elsolnec.org.

Biotechnology Innovation Organization

The Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO) is the world’s largest trade association for biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies, academic institutions, state biotechnology centers, and related organizations across the United States and in more than 30 other nations. Their members are involved in the research and development of innovative healthcare, agricultural, industrial, and environmental biotechnology products. Throughout the pandemic, BIO has provided access to business and scientific resources, digital sessions with key leaders in the biotech space, a COVID-19 therapeutic development tracker, and patient support programs.

BIO launched a website, https://www.covidvaccinefacts.org, with content that links people to third-party scientific and evidenced-based information related to the vaccine development process, along with the safety, efficacy, availability, and affordability of Covid-19 vaccines. Additionally, BIO produced a series of animated videos explaining vaccine safety and the variants, multiple educational webinars, and a PSA on the COVID vaccine featuring Morgan Freeman. You can watch all these videos here. Their latest video uses 1940’s science fiction style animation to explain how and why the virus continues to mutate and how vaccines will stop new variants from developing.

To learn more about BIO and their advocacy, visit their website: bio.org.

National Hispanic Medical Association

The National Hispanic Medical Association represents over 50,000 physicians dedicated to improving the health of Hispanics and other underserved. They have mobilized our members and networks through our Annual Conference, Chapter Forums and the following:

NHMA’s Vaccinate For All Campaign is supported by CDC 2021 – 2026 and Johnson & Johnson – 2021 – and focuses on social media education with NHMA members and Champions; the development of a Microsite and HispanicHealth.info to be launched soon with our educational links in English and Spanish on related COVID-19 information; training of the National Hispanic Health Professionals Leadership Network, NHMA Council of Medical Societies and Latino Health Advocacy Organizations with monthly meetings with the White House and HHS and NHMA, the NHMA Leadership Fellowship for 20 physicians/year interested in public health leadership, and the media training and placement in regional media networks for NHMA leaders and lastly, our small grant awards to NHMA Chapters for in person vaccination activities. The impact has been in the millions of social media impressions and hundreds of vaccinations since launching the programs.

Vaccinate For All works to vaccine hesitancy by arming individual physicians, health professional associations, and other leaders with educational resources about the COVID-19 vaccines to increase vaccination accessibility and uptake among the Latino community.

In April 2020, NHMA started its monthly COVID-19 Briefing Series with several partners and expert speakers on the last Wednesday of the month on impact and strategies to reduce COVID-19, especially among Latinos.

To learn more about the National Hispanic Medical Association visit, nhmamd.org.

Día de la Mujer Latina

Growing up in New York in the 1950s, Venus Ginés, president and founder of Día de la Mujer Latina, remembers the Puerto Rican women in her community sharing their stories of the horrific treatment at Bellevue Hospital. Venus’ mother was one of the victims of sterilization abuse. She died at an early age, never trusting doctors in the U.S. For decades, Venus carried that same distrust. It was only during an ER visit for a work-related injury did Venus learn that she had a lump on her breast. Her cancer journey and her sister’s untimely death to cervical cancer led her to establish Día de la Mujer Latina (DML) in 1997 as a culturally tailored community engagement program, that includes a health fiesta and a Promotores/Community Health Workers (CHWs) training. Today this model has been celebrated in 39 states, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic and Mexico.

To learn more about Día de la Mujer Latina, visit: diadelamujerlatina.org.

Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) Illinois

Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Farmworker and Landscaper Advocacy Project (FLAP) has undergone an incredible transformation to fill the gaps of need for Illinois’ low-income Latinx community. FLAP’s leaders knew that this already exploited community would bear the brunt of the damage dealt by the pandemic.

FLAP now serves as a critical health resource for Latinx workers. The organization often participates in events sponsored by the Cook County Department of Mental Health to increase vaccine confidence. The organization also convenes Facebook live discussions with health professionals to address vaccine hesitancy. These measures have been most effective in countering misinformation and helping those who are unsure get the vaccine.

To learn more about FLAP, visit: flapillinois.org.

Chicano Federation of San Diego County

Chicano Federation has been serving San Diego County and beyond for over 50 years. Its mission is to invest in under-resourced communities through various programs aimed at building resiliency and promoting self-sufficiency. Now, in its 53rd year, Chicano Federation is the lead advocate for health equity and ensuring that the well-being of the most impacted communities is a priority in San Diego County.

When COVID-19 struck, Chicano Federation joined with other organizations to create the Roadmap to Recovery Taskforce, a grassroots effort to slow the spread of coronavirus among the Latinx community. This initiative caught San Diego County’s attention and the group evolved into what is now the San Diego Latino Health Coalition and is made up of over 20 partner organizations. Alongside the County, the Coalition provides bilingual webinars, training, and resources on COVID-19-prevention and recovery. Coalition partners Chicano Federation joined with other organizations to create the Roadmap to Recovery Taskforce, a grassroots effort to slow the spread of coronavirus within the Latino community and save lives. This initiative caught San Diego County’s attention and the group evolved into what is now the San Diego Latino Health Coalition and is made up of over 20 partner organizations.

Alongside the County, the Coalition provides bilingual webinars, training, and resources on COVID-19 prevention and recovery. Coalition partners have also served as Resource Centers where Spanish speakers can receive answers on how to stay safe and healthy during the pandemic. The Chicano Federation remains committed to continuing its COVID-19 recovery efforts. Check out this video to see how the organization is empowering communities of color throughout San Diego.

To learn more about the Chicano Federation of San Diego, visit: chicanofederation.org.

 

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