Samantha Smith, Erika Marquez, Amanda Haboush-Deloye, Tiana Tu, Aaliyah Goodie (all Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy), and David Perez (Nevada Department of Health and Human Services) published an article on "Role of community engagement in advancing vaccine equity" in the journal Frontiers in Public Health.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing health disparities among historically and currently underserved, underresourced, and marginalized communities worldwide. These communities faced disproportionate COVID-19 morbidity and mortality and were generally less likely to receive a COVID-19 vaccine once it became widely available to the public. Community engagement is an approach that can help bridge these inequities. This community case study adapted and implemented an existing community engagement framework to tailor a statewide vaccine equity effort that addresses community-specific priorities during a public health emergency.
The Nevada Institute for Children's Research and Policy is housed under the School of Public Health.