By Aaron Allen, The Seattle Medium
On Monday, All In Washington, a public-private partnership to address COVID-19 impact on Washington State, launched an initiative to help reduce the disparities in access to the COVID-19 vaccine for communities of color.
All in Washington, which launched in May 2020 to address health disparities, housing, food shortages, small business assistance and COVID-19 relief efforts, surpassed its initial goal of $100 million in relief funding, and now looks to play a role in long-term COVID-19 recovery through the Vaccine Equity Initiative.
The Initiative, which will promote equitable vaccine distribution, aims to raise $15 million to match government dollars allocated to vaccine outreach and education in the African American and other communities of color totaling $30 million of combined private and public investment.
The Initiative will target and streamline funds to trusted and known, community-based organizations who can conduct linguistically and culturally specific vaccine education and outreach, as well as safely facilitate mobile and pop-up vaccine clinics for those who want to get vaccinated.
According to Gov. Jay Inslee, this partnership with philanthropy will look to address issues of equity, the desire to want to get a vaccine and access to the vaccine and is appreciative of the public sector’s efforts in this endeavor.
“We are here to provide as much information possible to the public,” said Inslee. “Information to help the public make their decisions in regards to getting the vaccines.”
“Vaccine access is critical to making sure our state recovers from this crisis,” he added. “The All In WA Vaccine Equity Initiative ensures that our hardest-hit communities have the information and resources they need to get vaccinated. I’m deeply appreciative of our philanthropic sector who has stepped up and quickly mobilized funds to bolster the efforts of our state agencies and fill support gaps so that every Washingtonian who wants a vaccine can get one – regardless of who they are or where they live.”
According to All In WA, communities of color have faced a painful history of systemic racism in our public health and medical systems. All In WA Vaccine Equity Initiative directs support to trusted and known organizations who are located in heavily impacted communities and are most familiar with their needs and concerns.
“The pandemic has intensified long-existing inequities that threaten countless families. Access to vaccines must help close that gap, not widen it,” said Jesus Hernandez, CEO, Family Health Centers in Okanogan County. “They [All In WA] are best equipped to help communities recover by disseminating critical vaccine information and expanding safe vaccine access to community members who need and want them.”
The grant funds will be distributed by the All In WA Advisory Group. The monies will be allocated to organizations based in communities and regions having the highest need.
“At the City, we are deeply committed to ensuring our BIPOC communities and immigrant and refugee communities have equitable access to the vaccine. The vast majority of people vaccinated by our Seattle Fire Department mobile teams identify as Black, Indigenous, and People of Color communities, and many face other systemic barriers to vaccination including mobility challenges, speaking a language other than English, and being uninsured,” said Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan. “Those who have been hit hardest by the pandemic should be the first to get vaccinated, and Seattle and Washington state can lead in the way in equitable access.”
According to King County Executive Dow Constantine, this philanthropic relationship will help ensure that public health organizations work directly with the communities they serve by aligning them with the necessary resources that they need.
“Throughout the pandemic, communities of color have borne the brunt of the disease, so I’m very pleased that the Vaccine Equity Initiative will help expand our work with community organizations across King County,” said Constantine. “We know the best path forward is to align resources and ensure that public health organizations work directly with the communities they serve. This fund will help make that a reality across Washington.”
