by Liz Carey,
Health care providers and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are trying novel ways to get as many residents vaccinated as possible.
As part of that effort, the CDC recently reached out to extension agencies and other trusted rural community resources to get factual vaccination information into communities.
Called the Extension Collaborative on Immunization Teaching and Engagement (EXCITE), the program provides extension agencies with grants to promote Covid-19 vaccination information.
“The overall goal of this great collaborative effort is to create a precision immunization program based on needs assessments and local partnerships, and then to provide immunization education and linkages to immunization opportunities for the most socially vulnerable audiences,” said Alexi Piasecki, with the CDC Vaccine Task Force. “This will be done through building trust, empowering health care personnel and engaging with communities and individuals.”
The five-year, $9.9 million program is a collaborative effort between the U.S. Department of Agriculture National Institute of Food and Agriculture and the CDC and uses the Cooperative Extension System to reach out to rural and medically underserved communities.