COVID-19 Vaccine Administration: Phase 2 of an in Progress Review in New York State Local Health Departments
Abstract
:1. Introduction
2. Materials and Methods
2.1. Study Design
2.2. Phase 1: Qualitative Analysis of Extant Data
2.3. Phase 2: After-Action Review
2.4. Thematic Analysis
3. Results
3.1. Participants
3.1.1. Phase 1
3.1.2. Phase 2
3.2. Notable Themes
3.2.1. Partnerships
3.2.2. Programmatic Elements
3.2.3. Communication
3.2.4. Role of LHD
3.2.5. State-LHD Coordination
3.2.6. Human and Physical Resources
4. Discussion
4.1. Challenges and Solutions
4.2. Best Practices
- By building and maintaining relationships with a broad range of county agencies, such as Social Service, Mental Health, Information Technology, and Sheriff and Fire Departments; community organizations, such as churches, schools, businesses, and shelters; and local clinical partners, including pharmacists, hospitals, and health care providers; LHDs can increase their workforce capacity during emergencies. In addition to building these partnerships, many LHDs were successful in engaging communities, to receive vaccines for example, by collaborating with a key community leader such as a pastor or a local policymaker/elected leader to carry the public health messaging and invite their communities to an event where vaccines were being offered. Those trusted community leaders are critical in meeting concerned community members where they are at, addressing concerns, and ultimately ensuring equity in the provision of vaccines.
- LHDs can expand their operating capacity rapidly during a public health emergency through regular cross-training of health department staff and staff from other county agencies, such as Social Service and Mental Health Department employees, in basic emergency preparedness and infectious disease functions, including case investigations and contact tracing. EMS Paramedics played a critical role in vaccinating those who were homebound, presenting an additional department for cross-training in public health emergencies.
- Public health preparedness drills, including POD set-up, and operations drills enhance and expedite LHDs’ emergency response capabilities during actual emergencies.
- LHDs are highly experienced in emergency planning and vaccine distribution therefore, LHD plans for emergency response should be utilized in future mass vaccination campaigns.
- LHDs benefit from a proactive, coordinated, and multi-faceted approach to communicating with the public during a public health emergency, utilizing a variety of channels, e.g., social media, press releases, interviews, etc., to reach the widest audience possible with important public health messaging. In the future, LHDs would benefit from regular training in social media communications to enhance engagement through social media and combat misinformation.
- State and local coordination is vital to the success of mass vaccination campaigns and the State should consider and incorporate LHD perspectives and capacity through all phases of emergency response.
4.3. Future Recommendations
4.4. Strengths and Limitations
5. Conclusions
Author Contributions
Funding
Institutional Review Board Statement
Informed Consent Statement
Data Availability Statement
Acknowledgments
Conflicts of Interest
Appendix A
References
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Variable | Count 1 | Participation Rate Across the State 2,3 |
---|---|---|
By Title (n = 39) 4 | ||
Commissioner | 10 | 83.33% |
Director | 24 | 53.33% |
Other (Deputy Director, etc.) | 5 | NA 5 |
By Region (n = 38) 6 | ||
Capital Region | 4 | 50.00% |
Central NY | 2 | 40.00% |
Finger Lakes | 7 | 77.78% |
Long Island | 2 | 100.00% |
Mid-Hudson | 7 | 100.00% |
Mohawk Valley | 3 | 50.00% |
North Country | 5 | 71.43% |
Southern Tier | 4 | 50.00% |
Western NY | 4 | 80.00% |
By County Size (n = 38) 6 | ||
Small (<75,000) | 17 | 65.38% |
Medium (75,001–199,999) | 12 | 70.59% |
Large & Extra-Large (>200,000) | 9 | 64.29% |
Theme |
Subtheme |
Partnerships |
Partner Types (e.g., health services, county entities, public works, local government, schools or educational institutions, inter-county/regional partners, elder or senior services, social service agencies, community-based organizations, community volunteers, Medical Reserve Corps, Faith communities) |
Partnership Impact |
Programmatic Elements (Describes elements of the actual vaccine program implementation/design) |
Registration & Notification Systems |
Administration Approaches (e.g., “closed” clinics, community providers, community-based sites, drive-through clinics, in-home vaccinations, mobile vaccination clinics, themed clinics, vaccine ‘on-demand’) |
Communication |
Communication Methods (e.g., social media, trusted messengers, informational materials, one-on-one conversations, PSAs, online forums, student ambassadors, dedicated websites or phonelines) |
Communication Challenges |
Areas of Improvement |
Role of the LHD |
Prior Planning, Experience & Training |
Advocacy |
Local Focus (i.e., understanding of community needs; centering LHD perspective) |
Contextual Challenges (i.e., vaccine supply, state decision making) |
State-LHD Coordination |
Incident Command System Planning |
Intergovernmental Affairs |
Resources |
Physical Resources (e.g., technology, vaccine supply & storage, funding & infrastructure) |
Human Resources (e.g., staffing, training & cross-training) |
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Bloomstone, S.; Fleming, M.; Arana, M.; D’Angelo, E.; Ravenhall, S.; Murrman, M. COVID-19 Vaccine Administration: Phase 2 of an in Progress Review in New York State Local Health Departments. Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health 2022, 19, 13030. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013030
Bloomstone S, Fleming M, Arana M, D’Angelo E, Ravenhall S, Murrman M. COVID-19 Vaccine Administration: Phase 2 of an in Progress Review in New York State Local Health Departments. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2022; 19(20):13030. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013030
Chicago/Turabian StyleBloomstone, Sarah, Molly Fleming, Mayela Arana, Emily D’Angelo, Sarah Ravenhall, and Marita Murrman. 2022. "COVID-19 Vaccine Administration: Phase 2 of an in Progress Review in New York State Local Health Departments" International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 19, no. 20: 13030. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph192013030