In 2022, the Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services (LB HHS) was selected to participate in NACCHO’s CDC-funded Equipping Local Health Departments to Address Vaccine Hesitancy project. This project provided funding for three local health departments (LHDs) to conduct CDC’s Rapid Community Assessment (RCA) to better understand vaccine hesitancy, and develop a plan to increase vaccine uptake in selected communities.

LB HHS focused on two priority zip codes within the city as well as all Long Beach parents. Their RCA focused mainly on COVID-19 vaccinations with some questions on routine vaccinations. They surveyed over 400 residents to learn about the thoughts, beliefs, and barriers that individuals experience regarding COVID-19 and routine vaccinations. They used the information gathered to plan a set of activities that address the barriers residents experienced. Plans include partnering with community-based organizations to provide education and back to school vaccination clinics and conducting provider outreach to education providers on their role in patient’s decision to get vaccinated.

To learn more about Long Beach’s survey, results, and plans for increasing vaccine uptake, review their case study here.