Building Momentum

Last month, Pennsylvania became the 10th state to have at least 70% of the adult population with at least their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. This is no small feat, and is due to the incredibly hard work of thousands of community organizers, health professionals and local leaders. We should all be proud of reaching this milestone.

But we should also use this as an opportunity to go further, to build on this momentum.

Since the first vaccinations were administered six months ago, we have learned a lot of important lessons about community outreach. It has been decades since our country has launched a public health campaign as high-profile, timely and massive as this, but we adapted nimbly and creatively to meet the challenge.

At Penn Medicine, we embraced a multipronged approach to help increase vaccination numbers and reach people who may be unsure if they want to get vaccinated. And we’ve learned a lot of important lessons along the way.

It’s all about access.

This underlies all our community health efforts and is a critical aspect of promoting health equity. Removing barriers to the vaccine, like transportation, long lines or geographic distance, made it easier and less daunting. Meeting people where they are – and in many cases, making signing up for a vaccine as easy as sending a text message – was a hallmark of our community clinics, held in spaces like recreation centers, church basements and school gymnasiums. I have loved seeing the pictures of smiling volunteers and community members. This proved to be a critical way to reach some of the neighborhoods hardest hit by COVID-19. It also reaffirmed that the best way to serve our community isn’t through the traditional “brick and mortar” hospital, but rather a “hospital in the neighborhood” as my colleague Nida Al-Ramahi noted.  

Across the country, this school of thought has led to a variety of innovative and creative means of making the vaccination more accessible: mobile vaccination units, drive through clinics, targeted FEMA sites, etc. Accessibility looks different in each community (which we see within the Penn Medicine system, from Lancaster to Philadelphia to Princeton), but what matters is that we’re making it easier and less daunting to get the vaccine.

Personalized, One-on-One Communication Moves the Needle

Trust was and continues to be a key indicator in vaccination outreach – trust in the vaccine itself, but also trust in the people being vaccinated to encourage others to do so. I couldn’t be prouder of my colleagues who shared their own vaccine journey publicly, whether on social media, in the news or on a podcast. These certainly helped start the conversation that tended to happen in more intimate settings: in doctor’s offices, around kitchen tables, at cookouts and in these times, on Zoom gatherings of friends and family. To the thousands of trusted “micro-influencers” who helped ease anxiety and provide encouragement: Thank you.

This direct outreach was also on full display during the West Philadelphia canvassing pilot program, which included a “vaccine street team” of 10-15 neighbors who helped spread the word in their community by knocking on doors and providing information. Thanks to a great idea from Councilmember Jamie Gauthier, Penn Medicine worked with the SEIU Healthcare Pennsylvania Training and Education Fund to organize volunteers who knocked on thousands of doors in May and helped address hesitancy, provide information and connect homebound neighbors to health resources. 

Penn Medicine recently partnered with the City of Philadelphia to reach a projected 7,400 homebound people to ensure every resident who wants a shot can get one. This expands on the home outreach we’ve been doing for months. Throughout the winter and spring, we already vaccinated more than 1,000 senior citizens living in public housing, as well as more than 600 homebound Penn Medicine patients. 

Incentives and Experiences Sweeten the Pot

From potential lottery windfall to free drinks to college scholarships to dinner with elected officials, all sorts of incentives are being used to encourage people to get their shot. There is still some debate about the effectiveness of using high-profile incentives (as a multidisciplinary team from Penn Medicine and Wharton has studied), but it has certainly reshaped the conversation surrounding outreach. 

Here at Penn Medicine, we partnered with the Flyers to offer vaccines before a home game at the Wells Fargo Center, offering free tickets, swag and Gritty stickers to those who were vaccinated on-site. Earlier in the spring, Gritty showed up at our Radnor High School clinic to take photos, thank volunteers and get people excited about the vaccine. We appreciate the civic pride and partnership from the entire Flyers organization.

Onward

While vaccination efforts in our region have been tremendously successful, they are far from complete. This is just the beginning of a longer, national inoculation campaign, as new variants emerge and booster shots remain a possibility. But more broadly, the lessons we have learned will be rigorously applied to future public health initiatives.

I’m optimistic – for many reasons, but especially because many of us did not think we would be where we are today even a few short months ago. We’re making such progress and learning such valuable lessons. I’m confident that our best and brightest days lay ahead of us.