UNC-Chapel Hill helps expand COVID-19 vaccination to doctor’s offices | UNC-Chapel Hill – UNC Chapell Hill

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hillis working tosupport expansion of COVID-19 vaccination toprimary care clinicsin areaswith lowvaccinationrates, thanks to a grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The work comes as the pace of vaccination in North Carolina has slowed and the state and federal government expand efforts to target hard-to-reach populations.

More than 7 million COVID-19 vaccine doses have been administered in North Carolina, mostly at mass vaccination sites, hospitals, health departments and even inside cars. Butin the next vaccination phase,moreshotsare expected to be given atdoctors offices.

TheUNC Center for Health Promotion and Disease Prevention, supported by a $500,000 grant, will provide 18 primary care clinics in areas where vaccination is lowest with the coaching, data and community partnerships needed to get more people vaccinated, especially Black and Latino patients.

Primary care doctors and nurses are among the most trusted professionals in the U.S. Thats where most of us prefer to get our vaccines and vaccine information, said Melissa Gilkey,the scientific lead of the project whois abehavioral scientist at theUNC GillingsSchool of Global Public Healthandfellow atUNCHPDP.

Alice Ammerman,a professor of nutrition at the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health,directs UNC HPDP.Itsone of 26CDC PreventionResearch Centersacross the country to receive support to increase equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines.Shell leadHPDPs involvement, sharing best practices and insights with other research teams.

Prevention Research Centers, with their long-term community partners and focus on engagement, are well-positioned to make progress toward increasing vaccine confidence and uptake, Ammerman said.

The work startswith an analysisofstate datatoidentifyareas in North Carolina withlow vaccination rates anddemographic gaps invaccinations.Researcherswill also analyze data from a state-wide surveyofbarriers togetting vaccines at primary care clinics.

The goal istoincrease the likelihood thatpatients receive at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccineand there are multiple strategies clinics can try.

For example, settingreminders to talk to patientsabout COVID-19 vaccinationand offering evening and weekend clinicsto make it easier toschedule ashot.

The results willbetracked for three months, but researchers will spend a yeareliciting community-drivenideas on ways to improve COVID-19 vaccination.

Joining the project willbePaul Delamater, a Carolina geographer who specializes in geospatial analysis of vaccine uptake and refusal; Noel Brewer, a professor at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and internationally recognized expert in vaccine behavior and communication andAlexandra Lightfoot, a behavioral specialist at UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and expert in community engagement.

The team of UNC experts in behavioral science, vaccine delivery and community engagement will conduct the project in partnership with the NC Division of Public Health, the NC Area Health Education Centers and the PRIME Collective, a group of community experts that partners with investigators to engage communities in research.

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UNC-Chapel Hill helps expand COVID-19 vaccination to doctor's offices | UNC-Chapel Hill - UNC Chapell Hill