Health & Fitness
Vaccine Acceptance And Accessibility In Wauwatosa
As of April 2021, 64% of Wauwatosa residents ages 18+ and 76% of adults 60+ have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
May 4, 2021
The City of Wauwatosa Health Department is committed to providing COVID-19 vaccinations to residents in an equitable manner. As such, we earned a grant from the Wisconsin Department of Health Services to foster increased acceptance of and access to the vaccine, particularly for populations that have been disproportionally affected by the pandemic.
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The goal
Using grant funds, launch a campaign about vaccine acceptance. This campaign includes communication on various media channels, but also mobile vaccination clinics to make the vaccine accessible to everyone. We aim to achieve an 80% vaccination rate by the end of 2021. As of April 2021, 64% of Wauwatosa residents ages 18+ and 76% of adults 60+ have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
The first step
We’re asking for the community’s feedback about the vaccine in a survey. We want to understand people’s feelings about the vaccine, if they’ve received it, or reasons why they have not received a vaccine yet.
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The Wauwatosa Health Department would use this data to inform the campaign’s delivery, where mobile vaccine clinics might be held, and other methods to reach the goal of 80% vaccination rate by the end of 2021.
Why does this campaign matter?
The City of Wauwatosa Health Department is committed to health equity. The pandemic has had a disproportionately negative impact on communities of color when compared with the White community. Black, indigenous and people of color have experienced higher rates of infection, hospitalization and death due to COVID-19 in Wauwatosa and nation-wide.
The data has shown the vaccine is safe and effective for all races and ethnicities. These COVID-19 vaccine trials included a group of more than 110,000 participants, from different backgrounds and ethnicities, including people who identify as Black, African American and Hispanic.
This press release was produced by the City of Wauwatosa. The views expressed here are the author’s own.