Baker-Polito Administration Awards $3.2 Million for COVID-19 Vaccine Equity Efforts
BOSTON (June 8, 2021) – The Baker-Polito Administration today announced $3.2 million in grants and contracts to community-based organizations as part of the Massachusetts Vaccine Equity Initiative to increase awareness and access to the COVID-19 vaccine in the 20 cities and towns hardest hit by the pandemic. The awards are part of the Administration’s investment of $27.4 million in federal funds announced in March.
The funds, which will be distributed to select community- and faith-based organizations statewide, aim to reduce barriers to vaccination for communities and populations most disproportionately impacted by COVID-19.
Seven new community-based organizations, community health centers, and behavioral health centers have been awarded $2.2 million to support vaccine navigation services and customized vaccine administration, building on $6.8 million previously awarded to 25 other organizations.
Award recipients:
- SSTAR Family
Healthcare Center
- North Shore
Community Health Center
- Boston Health
Care for the Homeless
- Latino Health
Insurance Program
- Caring
Community Health Center
- Community
Health Connections
- Holyoke Health
Center
These organizations will receive funding to link individuals to vaccination services in the community, and to directly administer vaccination to groups that are not reached by other outreach efforts. These include populations who may benefit from one-on-one vaccination support, such as substance use disorder treatment facilities, places of worship, homeless encampments, food pantries/congregate meal locations, LGBTQ+ community programs, shelters and day programs, and immigrant assistance centers.
“As we work to build trust in the vaccine across the Commonwealth, we also put our full trust in community-based organizations to know what their communities need, and how to best serve them,” said Public Health Commissioner Monica Bharel, MD, MPH. “Our goal has always been to work toward equity by finding solutions that are right for each community.”
An additional $1 million in funding is being administered by Health Resources in Action (HRiA) in partnership with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, building on $2.8 million in previously awarded funds. These funds are being awarded to 23 organizations (resulting in 61 total organizations through this funding) to support their efforts to expand vaccine education and awareness that address the specific needs of Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and other communities of color within the 20 prioritized communities.
Newly funded organizations:
- African
Community Center of Lowell
- Asian American Civic
Association
- Asociacion Ministerial
Evangelica Del Area de Lawrence
- Autism Sprinter
- Black Ministerial Alliance
of Greater Boston
- Black Springfield COVID-19
Coalition
- Brockton Workers Alliance
- Building Audacity
- Catholic Social Services
of Fall River
- Chelsea Black Community
- Disability Policy Consortium
& Boston Center for Independent Living
- Greater Framingham
Community Church
- Immigrants Assistance
Center
- JAHAN Women and Youth
Intercultural
- Justice 4 Housing
- Lawrence Community Works
- Massachusetts Council of
Churches
- Pioneer Valley Project
- Randolph Community
Partnership
- Sociedad Latina
- Southeast Asian Coalition
of Central Massachusetts
- Spanish American Center
- YWCA
Southeastern Massachusetts
About the Vaccine
Equity Initiative
Announced by
the Baker-Polito Administration in February 2021, the Vaccine Equity Initiative
focuses on 20 cities and towns with the greatest COVID-19 case burden, taking
into account social determinants of health and the disproportionate impact of
COVID-19 on Black, Indigenous, People of Color (BIPOC). These communities are
Boston, Brockton, Chelsea, Everett, Fall River, Fitchburg, Framingham,
Haverhill, Holyoke, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Lynn, Malden, Methuen, New
Bedford, Randolph, Revere, Springfield, and Worcester.
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