Rapid Deployment of Multiple Tactics to Address Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccine Uptake in Healthcare Employees With a Focus on Those Who Identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

Dominic K Chan; Brittany D Alegria; Smitha R Chadaga; Lisa J Goren; Traci J Mikasa; Anna M Pearson; Seth R Podolsky; Regina S Won; Jennifer L LeTourneau

doi:10.1093/ofid/ofac012

Rapid Deployment of Multiple Tactics to Address Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 Vaccine Uptake in Healthcare Employees With a Focus on Those Who Identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color

Open Forum Infect Dis. 2022 Feb 4;9(3):ofac012. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofac012. eCollection 2022 Mar.

Authors

Dominic K Chan¹, Brittany D Alegria², Smitha R Chadaga³, Lisa J Goren², Traci J Mikasa⁴, Anna M Pearson⁵, Seth R Podolsky⁶, Regina S Won⁷, Jennifer L LeTourneau⁸

Affiliations

¹ Pharmacy, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.
² Human Resources, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.
³ Internal Medicine Service, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.
⁴ Emanuel Internal Medicine Residency, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.
⁵ Strategy & Business Development, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.
⁶ Office of Clinical Transformation, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.
⁷ Infectious Disease, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.
⁸ Pulmonary & Critical Care, Legacy Health, Portland, Oregon, USA.

Abstract

Background: In the third quarter of 2021, government entities enacted vaccine requirements across multiple employment sectors, including healthcare. Experience from previous vaccination campaigns within healthcare emphasize the need to translate community modalities of vaccine outreach and education that partner with Black communities, Indigenous communities, and communities of Color stakeholders to increase vaccine confidence broadly.

Methods: This was an observational feasibility study conducted from August through October 2021 that deployed and measured the effect of a multimodal approach to increasing vaccine uptake in healthcare employees. Vaccine data were acquired through the Center for Disease Control Immunization Information Systems across Oregon and Washington. Rates of complete vaccination before the intervention were compared with rates after as a measure of feasibility of this intervention. These data were subdivided by race/ethnicity, age, gender, and job class. Complete vaccination was defined as completion of a 2-dose mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccine series or a 1-dose adenoviral vector SARS-CoV-2 vaccine.

Results: Overall preintervention and postintervention complete vaccination rates were 83.7% and 93.5%, respectively. Of those employees who identified as a certain race, black employees demonstrated the greatest percentage difference increase, 18.5% (preintervention, 72.1%; postintervention, 90.6%), followed by Hispanic employees, 14.1% (preintervention, 79.4%; postintervention, 93.5%), and employees who identify as 2 or more races, 13.9% (preintervention, 78.7%; postintervention, 92.6%).

Conclusions: We found that a multimodal approach to improving vaccination uptake in employees was feasible. For organizations addressing vaccine requirements for their workforce, we recommend a multimodal strategy to increase vaccine confidence and uptake.

Keywords: COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; health personnel; vaccines.