Durham Vaccine Equity Program

ABOUT THE PROJECT

The Durham Vaccine Equity Program is jointly funded by the City and County and supports over 50 Community Health Workers (CHWs) in Durham County. Over the course of five months, these CHWs, managed by nine community-based organizations, aim to improve vaccination rates in Durham County and reduce COVID-19 vaccination disparities across race and ethnicity. CHWs will pursue a wide range of strategies to increase vaccination including, but not limited to, educating residents about the vaccine and where they can get vaccinated, reducing barriers to vaccination, hosting and supporting vaccination events, and the engagement of local champions.

Durham Vaccine Equity Advisory Coalition Final Report

View the report (PDF) to learn more about the program's final results and recommendations.

what we do

The Durham Vaccine Equity Advisory Coalition (DVEAC) is a group of community-based organizations, health workers, ambassadors and community leaders united in their mission to improve equitable COVID-19 vaccination rates across Durham County. DVEAC is both a bridge and a hub that leverages community voices in order to create a response COVID-19 that is equitable, effective and grounded in community experiences.

DVEAC provides an opportunity for a coordinated and sustained effort to strategically address inequities experienced by historically marginalized populations in Durham County through communication and collaboration between the community, CBOs, local governments and the health department. The power of DVEAC is grounded in the expertise of its members and the connections they have formed through years of community-based initiatives serving marginalized and vulnerable populations in Durham County.

DVEAC supports a bottom up approach that recognizes the inherent value of the experiences and ideas of those working alongside their communities everyday. Through DVEAC, innovative solutions are passed from the ground up, amplifying their impact through dissemination to partner agencies, local leaders and health providers. DVEAC was formed to address the immediate needs of COVID-19 vaccination inequities, however it will also pave the way for a sustained collaborative effort among institutions to foster community health and wellness in HMP and vulnerable populations in Durham County.

We believe in:

The importance of equitable power, voice, and initiative
That community and public health collaborations will results in greater health impact and service improvements
Investments made in grassroots efforts hold the key to improve health and quality of life for individual and community health and wellness.