Our Response Efforts Around COVID-19
A Message from NACCHO on Our COVID-19 Response
These are extraordinary times for public health. Not only are we at heightened concern for the communities we serve, but we’re also extending that concern to our families, friends, and neighbors, to local businesses and restaurants, and our hospitals and clinics. As we redouble our efforts in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, our work, expertise, and actions are needed more than ever. Our roles will be expanding in ways that will rapidly unfold, and NACCHO wants to emphasize that we’re here for our colleagues throughout the country, ready to respond to the best of our abilities.
Below you will find resources, webinars, and funding opportunities developed to assist local health departments in their ongoing COVID-19 response.
We have also set up a dedicated COVID-19 Virtual Community, a secure platform where LHDs can post questions to fellow colleagues, raise issues to NACCHO, and find resources from federal partners and other LHDs. The COVID-19 Virtual Community is now open to all local health department staff. To access the community, you will need to log in using your MyNACCHO account credentials and be affiliated with a local health department. If you have any problems accessing the COVID-19 Virtual Community, please make sure your LHD affiliation is correctly listed under the organization field in the ‘My Information’ section of your MyNACCHO profile or email [email protected] with your name, LHD affiliation, and role to be properly added to our system.
We need to hear from you! If you’re with a local health department, please submit your stories on this short form about your COVID-19 response efforts: https://www.naccho.org/programs/coronavirus. This feedback is critical to our work to advocate on your behalf.
Latest COVID-Related Work at NACCHO
As illustrated in the map below, as of October 2021, NACCHO has distributed over $9.5 million to support local health departments’ pandemic response through COVID-19 funded projects. This does not include non-monetary supports available to all local health departments, nor programmatic funds distributed for non-COVID-19 related efforts. NACCHO is committed to ensuring we continue to support local health departments in their response and recovery efforts and we encourage you to check back often or subscribe to the COVID19 Response Newsletter for information on future funding opportunities.
Below please find a collection of some of the resources that NACCHO has published from January 2020 to present.
Public Health Preparedness
Increasing Vaccine Confidence: A Resource Guide for LHDs
This resource guide for best practices and guidance to address vaccine confidence across the lifespan for routine and COVID-19 vaccines.
Public Health Preparedness
Increasing Vaccine Confidence: A Resource Guide for LHDs
Environmental Health
Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2: An Infographic
See how implementing wastewater surveillance for SARS-CoV-2 can have the potential to help local jurisdictions prevent community spread of COVID-19.
Environmental Health
Wastewater Surveillance for SARS-CoV-2: An Infographic
NACCHO has hosted many webinars related to COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic. If you have any questions about particular webinars, please reach out to [email protected].
| Title | Description | Recording |
|---|---|---|
| Infection Prevention and Control in Homeless Shelters (11/23/21) | During this webinar, the Corrections and Homelessness Section within CDC’s COVID-19 Response present tools and resources for infection prevention and control in correctional facilities and homeless service sites. They share experiences related to infection prevention in these settings and considerations for assessing when prevention strategies can be modified in these settings. | Watch now |
| The Critical Role of Monoclonal Antibodies as the COVID-19 Pandemic Continues (9/9/21) | Dr. Michael Anderson with the HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response shared the latest information on the available COVID-19 therapeutics and address important updates such as the efficacy of the medications, new administration routes and novel treatments in the pipeline, fee reimbursement resources, provider and patient tools and fact sheets, and much more. | Watch now |
| Cultural Contexts of Resilience and Vulnerability: Global Lessons from the COVID-19 Pandemic (9/2/21) | A health-in-all-policies approach is essential to addressing the compounding risk factors that lead to vulnerability. Assessing the factors that produce resilience and vulnerability should be ongoing to prepare for future emergencies. During this webinar, you will hear more about: 1.) The Cultural Contexts of Health approach 2.) Vulnerability, Resilience, and Vaccines in the COVID pandemic 3.) Highlight: Addressing health vulnerabilities in Houston | Watch now |
| “Upstream Approaches” to Build Resiliency: Organizational and Leadership Strategies (8/24/21) | This interactive webinar explores workforce stressors and how organizations have been impacted by anxiety, brain fog, and burnout in workforce environments. Participants explore evidence-informed strategies and resources for organizations, teams, and leadership to build resilience in the workplace and explore communication strategies and methods to build team cohesion and healthy workplace culture. | Watch now |
| CDC Federal Snapshot: K-12 Guidance Update (8/17/21) | On July 9th, CDC released updated Guidance for COVID-19 Prevention in K-12 Schools as well as their COVID-19 Guidance for Operating Early Care and Education/Child Care Programs. To support this guidance, the Science Brief has been updated as well to include the evidence behind these recommendations. | Watch now |
| Improving Adolescent Vaccine Coverage – Situation Assessment, Insights, and Tools You Can Use (7/29/21) | Unity Consortium presents current adolescent immunization data reflecting the adverse impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and related insights on adolescent and parent preventive healthcare beliefs, intentions and behaviors. | Watch now |
| Strategies for Building and Maintaining Relationships with Nursing Homes to Reduce MDROs and COVID-19 Case Burden (7/20/21) | Dr. Susan Huang from the University of California, Irvine (UCI) discusses the UCI team’s experience working with 27 nursing homes in Orange County, California to implement the Shared Healthcare Intervention to Eliminate Life-Threatening Dissemination of multidrug-resistant organisms in Orange County (SHIELD OC) Program. NACCHO is supporting UCI through its Healthcare-Associated Infection and Antibiotic Resistance (HAI/AR) demonstration site project. | Watch now |
| Regional Approach to Infection Prevention and Control of COVID-19 (6/24/21) | COVID-19 continues highlighting the critical role of infection prevention and control (IPC) in healthcare settings. Two local health departments, Pima County (AZ) and Hamilton County (OH), discussed their efforts to build a regional approach to IPC and share lessons learned and successes. | Watch now |
| Infection Prevention and Control in Schools (6/10/21) | As more schools return to in-person learning, the work of balancing the best possible education while keeping students and staff safe has become even more challenging. The Infection Prevention and Control in Schools Task Force, led by Danielle Allen, James Bryant Conant University Professor and Director of the Edmond J. Safra Center for Ethics at Harvard University, discussed a roadmap that will support education and public health leaders in building the organizational capacity and partnership needed for maintaining healthy schools in this pandemic and the next. | Watch now |
| COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution Text Messaging Strategies (6/8/21) | Safety net organizations throughout the country are using text messaging to execute their vaccine communication strategy for their underserved patients. This session is focused on helping NACCHO members maximize the power of text messaging for both COVID-19 vaccine patient communication and additional clinical workflows. | Watch now |
| Community-Led COVID-19 Messaging that Supports Vaccine Confidence (5/11/21) | The National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants (NRC-RIM) worked with IDEO.org, a nonprofit design studio to build vaccination campaigns in genuine partnership with RIM communities. During this webinar, learn how to develop a community-led, hyperlocal communications strategy and learn about templates and tools available from NRC-RIM that will allow you to customize the campaign for your community. | Watch now |
| Global, Regional, and Local Approaches to COVID-19 Vaccine Equity: Sharing lessons for World Immunization Week (4/27/21) | The NACCHO Immunization and Global Health teams hosted a webinar to connect global, regional, and local experiences related to COVID-19 immunization equity. Through presentations from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Division of Global Health Protection, the Pan American Health Organization’s Regional Immunization Program, and the Virginia Department of Health’s Eastern Shore Health District, the speakers provided a multi-level exchange of information and share lessons learned to better facilitate effective strategies that support equitable uptake of, access to, and demand for COVID-19 vaccines, among refugee, immigrant and migrant populations. | Watch now |
| Federal Response to COVID-19 with FEMA, HHS, and CDC (4/6/21) | FEMA, HHS, and CDC joined NACCHO to discuss the role of each agency in the COVID-19 response. This presentation highlights several programs and efforts by the CDC to support equitable vaccine access. | Watch now |
| A safe return to in-person learning for students nationwide with a simple, easy COVID-19 testing solution (4/1/21) | Schools have successfully implemented safety precautions, such as social distancing, hand washing, and screeners, but it is more important than ever to be aware of COVID-19 cases on campus that are not detected by temperature or symptoms. This is achieved through a regular and comprehensive testing protocol. This webinar discusses the Thermo Fisher-Color Health partnership and simplified solution that makes on-site student testing accessible to schools. | Watch now |
| Nursing Home TeleICAR Training (3/25/21) | This webinar covers a high-level overview of the TeleICAR process, including scheduling and outreach, conducting the ICAR, providing feedback, documenting observations, and follow-up. This training is recommended for jurisdictions that are new to the Tele-ICAR process or are onboarding new staff that will be tasked with conducting ICARs in nursing home settings. | Watch now |
| COVID-19 Vaccination Stories from the Field: Local Health Department Practices to Facilitate Equitable Vaccine Distribution and Access (3/18/21) | This webinar features local health departments as they discussed their work to identify communities at the highest risk for COVID-19 infection and complications. It highlights their best practices and lessons learned in ensuring equitable COVID-19 vaccine distribution within their community. | Watch now |
| COVID-19 Vaccination Stories from the Field: Local Health Department & Pharmacy Partnerships (2/25/21) | The National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO) and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores (NACDS) organized a webinar with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to discuss the Federal Retail Pharmacy Program. It also highlights two examples of pharmacies and local health departments as they discuss their efforts to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccination within their community. | Watch now |
| Hygiene-related behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic among U.S. populations: A review (2/18/21) | A range of hygiene-related behaviors have been promoted as part of the COVID-19 pandemic response, including frequent handwashing, frequent use of alcohol-based hand sanitizer, and frequent cleaning and disinfection of surfaces. To help understand who is engaging in these behaviors and what influences their decisions to engage in these behaviors, researchers in the Waterborne Disease Prevention Branch of the Division of Foodborne, Waterborne, and Environmental Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have engaged in a range of quantitative and qualitative studies. This webinar describes some of these findings. | Watch now |
| Contact Tracing Prioritization (2/11/21) | Local health departments have been leading this charge in contact tracing during the COVID response and have implemented a variety of strategies to manage ever-growing caseloads, including contracting, working with volunteers, and shortening interview scripts. Despite these efforts, the number of cases is increasingly difficult to handle and many LHDs may need to begin prioritizing case investigations and contact tracing. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released recommendations to guide the prioritization process and support health departments’ abilities to implement the most impactful public health activities. Participants will hear a presentation from Dr. Melanie Taylor with the CDC’s Division of STD Prevention. | Watch now |
| Increasing Vaccination Coverage Among Racial and Ethnic Groups: Lessons Learned from CDC’s REACH Program (1/26/21) | The Racial and Ethnic Approaches to Community Health (REACH) program is a national program administered by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to reduce racial and ethnic disparities. This webinar features three local health departments discussing their work to increase adult flu vaccination coverage among racial and ethnic groups experiencing disparities and sharing lessons learned and best practices. | Watch now |
| Understanding Diverse Communities to Support Equitable and Informed COVID-19 Vaccination Decision-Making (1/21/21) | National surveys and polls have shown concerning low percentages of adults who intend to get a COVID-19 vaccine once available to them. These findings have fluctuated over time and varied by factors such as race, ethnicity, gender, age, education, and political affiliation. They also underscore the need to further explore individuals’ perspectives and better understand the factors influencing decisions among diverse communities to be vaccinated against COVID-19. This webinar features findings and insights on public views of COVID-19 vaccination from (1) a national panel survey conducted November 25 – December 7; and (2) 25 online community conversations conducted December 2 – 14, including local conversations with African American, Latinx, and Tribal communities and regional conversations with people undecided about vaccination. | Watch now |
| Engaging Communities to Increase Confidence in COVID-19 Vaccines (1/7/21) | This webinar, hosted by the Association of Schools and Programs of Public Health (ASPPH) and the National Association of County and City Health Officials (NACCHO), highlights national COVID-19 vaccine efforts. It also explores local and academic partnerships to engage communities and individuals and address confidence in COVID-19 vaccines. | Watch now |
| Technology Approaches to Managing COVID-19 Vaccination (12/17/20) | Health departments are navigating a myriad of electronic systems, applications, and solutions aimed to support COVID-19 vaccination planning, distribution, administration, tracking, and reporting. This webinar highlights themes emerging jurisdictions’ COVID-19 vaccination plans on use technology for managing COVID-19 vaccination and feature efforts in Maryland to electronically prepare for COVID-19 vaccination. | Watch now |
| NYC Contract Tracing (12/8/20) | This webinar explores the development of the country’s largest citywide contact tracing program including navigating language barriers and cultural competencies, using contact tracing to promote adherence to isolation and quarantine, and identifying contacts while also pinpointing likely sources of infection. | Watch now |
| Changing the COVID Conversation (12/3/20) | This webinar is a special VIP briefing with Dr. Luntz. He will review the new research and the implications for political and health leaders. As our country heads into initial and then broader vaccine availability, this webinar may help you and your local elected leaders understand current public sentiment around COVID messaging. | Watch now |
| Drive-thru Vaccination Clinics and Local Health Departments (11/12/20) | Local health departments (LHDs) often use drive-thru vaccination clinics as a model to provide rapid and effective mass vaccination to communities. During the pandemic, LHDs have also utilize this model for COVID-19 testing and combined vaccination clinics. Lessons learned and best practices can be leveraged for the delivery of a potential COVID-19 vaccination. | Watch now |
| Public Health Official Safety, Existing state protections for public health officials (11/5/20) | This webinar includes a discussion of the ongoing threats that many public health officials are experiencing as they work to mitigate the impact of COVID-19. The presenter describes the existing legal landscape in states with criminal statutes which may provide protection for public health officials. | Watch now |
As of May 2023:
With the end of the national public health emergency declaration on May 11, NACCHO has de-escalated from our Incident Management Team. Read reflections on the pandemic response and where we go from here, in this statement by NACCHO CEO Lori Tremmel Freeman.
For future updates, we invite you to subscribe to our subject matter newsletters. Use your MyNACCHO account (log-in and click on “My Subscriptions”) to subscribe to:
- Preparedness Brief Digest, a monthly newsletter providing updates and information on a range of projects that influence preparedness policy with federal decision makers and offering practical solutions that help local health departments build resilient communities.
- The Transmission Digest, a monthly digest featuring news and resources related to infectious disease, immunization, and epidemiology.
We also encourage you to continue to connect and share resources with your peers through the Virtual Communities platform.
As you transition COVID-19 response in your communities, the following resources may be of interest:
- Jen Kates, Senior Vice President and Director of KFF’s Global Health & HIV Policy program, presented “The End of the Public Health Emergency Declaration for COVID-19,” at the 2023 Preparedness Summit on April 24. The presentation describes key health-related flexibilities that will end because of the ending of the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) declaration, as well as other emergency declarations and measures.
- The Public Health Communications Collaborative shared topline messaging as a guide to help keep your constituents informed about what the end of the public health emergency means and does not mean. While the end of the public health emergency declaration has many implications, this guide is designed to communicate the information that is most relevant to the general public.
- CDC MMWR: COVID-19 Surveillance After Expiration of the Public Health Emergency Declaration - United States, May 11, 2023
For more information regarding our COVID response or resources, please email us at [email protected].