The United States (U.S.) is the country with the largest number of infections and deaths due to COVID- 19 and racial/ethnic minorities are disproportionately affected. Acceptance and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines will be instrumental to ending the pandemic. To this end, 2VIDA! (SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Intervention Delivery for Adults in Southern California) is a multilevel intervention to address individual, social, and contextual factors related to access to, and acceptance of, the COVID-19 vaccine by implementing and assessing a COVID-19 vaccination protocol among Latino and African American (AA) adults (>18 years old) in San Diego. 2VIDA! builds on our previous CBPR efforts and centers on conducting COVID-19 Individual awareness and education, linkages to medical and supportive services, and Community Outreach and Health Promotion in the intervention sites (Phase 1); and offering the COVID-19 vaccine to Latino and AA adults (>18 years old) in federally-qualified health centers and pop-up vaccination stations in communities highly impacted by the pandemic and identifying individual and structural barriers to COVID-19 immunization (Phase 2).
As of January 2021, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports that 89 million cases of
COVID-19 (SARS- CoV-2) have been confirmed and have resulted in more than 1.9 million deaths
globally. Currently, the United States (U.S.) is the country with the largest number of
infections and deaths due to COVID-19, with a total of 22 million infections and 373,167
deaths. Furthermore, early findings that have examined COVID-19 demographics show that racial
and ethnic minorities in the U.S. are bearing a disproportionate number of COVID-19 cases and
deaths irrespective of geographic region. While there's no evidence that people of color
(POC) have genetic or biological factors that make them more likely to be affected by
COVID-19, they are more likely to have underlying health conditions, live in
multi-generational homes, live in densely populated areas, have limited access to healthcare,
and have jobs that are considered essential and involve interaction with the public. All of
these factors contribute to higher rates of infection and adverse outcomes due to COVID-19.
Although COVID-19 preventive behaviors such as hand washing, mask wearing, and social
distancing have been shown to be effective in curbing the spread of the virus, acceptance and
uptake of COVID-19 vaccines will be instrumental to ending the pandemic. However, public
confidence in vaccination is fragile, especially among racial and ethnic minorities. To this
end, we have formed an intervention working group comprised of representatives from community
and academic organizations to address challenges in COVID-19 vaccination uptake among Latino
and African American (AA) communities in Southern California by using a community-based
participatory research (CBPR) approach. Project 2VIDA! (SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Intervention
Delivery for Adults in Southern California), is a multilevel intervention to address
individual, social, and contextual factors related to access to, and acceptance of, the
COVID-19 vaccine among Latino and AA adults (>18 years old) across six highly affected
communities in Southeast San Diego. 2VIDA! seeks to implement and assess a COVID-19
vaccination protocol to increase interest and uptake of COVID-19 vaccine, provide COVID-19
vaccines in the community, and establish a model for the rapid vaccination of Latino and AA
adults that could be generalizable to other highly affected communities. 2VIDA! builds on our
previous CBPR efforts and centers on conducting COVID-19 community outreach and health
promotion, Individual awareness and education, and linkages to medical and supportive
services and offering the COVID-19 vaccine to Latino and AA adults (>18 years old) in
community health centers (CHC) and mini-vaccination stations in communities highly impacted
by the pandemic in San Diego County.
Behavioral: COVID-19 Individual Awareness and Education.
The 2VIDA! working group has developed culturally competent COVID-19 educational and outreach materials (available printed and electronically) in English and Spanish that are written at the 8th grade level (the average reading level of adults in the United States) that peer-health educators will distributed to community members during their visits to the participating SYH community centers, door-to-door, local supermarkets, and CBO's in the selected communities. These materials have general information on COVID-19 as well as educational information and resources regarding COVID-19 prevention, symptoms, testing, contact tracing, COVID-19 vaccine (how it works, technology used, administration [2-dose series and importance of vaccine completion]), safety concerns, benefits, dispelling common misconceptions and misinformation, and other topics identified based on community needs. This information will be updated monthly to ensure the most up to date information.
Behavioral: COVID-19 Community Outreach & Health Promotion.
Peer-health educators will work with local CBO's and facilitate a combination of live broadcast sessions, pre-recorded webinars, social media posts, and other outreach activities in English and Spanish reaching community members with information on the above COVID-19 related topics as well as other identified needs such as what to do if a family member is infected and where you can get the COVID-19 vaccine. The goal is to reach 10,000 viewers (per session) in the various social media platforms in the three randomly selected communities.
Behavioral: COVID-19 Individual Health Education & Linkages to Medical and Supportive Services.
SYHealth will establish a COVID-19 Resource Center within the participating health centers in the three randomly selected communities (intervention sites only) providing individual COVID-19 related health education and linkages to medical and supportive services for patients and community members in need of additional education and support regarding COVID-19 disease and COVID-19 vaccine.
Biological: Pop-up community vaccination sites
We will offer the COVID-19 vaccine at the participating SYHealth community health centers and pop-up vaccination stations that will be set-up in these communities (intervention sites) as part of the interventions efforts to increase access and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine. We have identified various open spaces (e.g., public parks) in these communities to set-up the vaccination stations. Additionally, data will be collected to assess individual, social, and contextual factors related to access, acceptance, and uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine.The survey will last approximately 10-15 minutes and will be self-administered in both English and Spanish. Following the survey participants will be offered the COVID-19 vaccine and will be made an automatic appointment for the 2nd dose (4-week follow-up) and will be asked to complete a 5 min survey during the follow-up visit.
Inclusion Criteria:
- age 16 years or older
- identify as Latinx and/or AA
- biologically male or female
- be a resident of one of the six communities selected for this study (National City,
Lincoln Park, Logan Heights, Valencia Park, Chula Vista or San Ysidro)
- literate in English or Spanish
- no known history of severe allergic reactions to any components of the vaccine
- no history of immune disease
- not be pregnant
- no plans to move from the area in the following 30 days
- able to provide voluntary informed consent
- able to provide complete contact information for themselves and two additional contact
individuals (for follow-up 2nd vaccine shot)
Exclusion Criteria:
- under 16 years old
- pregnant women
- individuals unable to consent
San Ysidro Health Chula Vista
Chula Vista, California, United States
Care View Health Center
San Diego, California, United States
San Ysidro Health Care View Health Center
San Diego, California, United States
San Ysidro Health Euclid
San Diego, California, United States
San Ysidro Health King-Chavez Health Center
San Diego, California, United States
San Ysidro Health
San Ysidro, California, United States
Argentina E Servin, MD,MPH
6195767211
arservin@ucsd.edu
Argentina E Servin, MD,MPH, Principal Investigator
UC San Diego