This webinar discussed states’ use of disadvantage indices to inform their COVID-19 vaccination efforts and surface lessons learned and questions for evaluation.
Disadvantage indices, such as the CDC’s Social Vulnerability Index, can help policymakers assess the health of a community and target programs and services in response to community needs. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a growing number of states have used these tools to inform their policy response, including decisions regarding the allocation and distribution of vaccines. This webinar discussed states’ use of disadvantage indices to inform their COVID-19 vaccination efforts and surface lessons learned and questions for evaluation. The goal was to highlight early learnings to inform states’ ongoing vaccination efforts as well as potential future uses of indices to advance health equity.
Supported by Blue Shield of California Foundation, this webinar builds on a June 2021 AcademyHealth workshop that convened state and federal policymakers, researchers, and others to discuss emerging lessons and ongoing challenges related to the use of indices to inform COVID-19 vaccination efforts.
View the slides from the webinar here.
Drawing on the experiences and perspectives of policymakers and researchers, this webinar will:
Moderator:
Hemi Tewarson, J.D., M.P.H. is the Executive Director of the National Academy for State Health Policy (NASHP). Read Bio
Presenters:
Harald Schmidt PhD, MA, is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy, and a... Read Bio
Dr. Rohan Radhakrishna was appointed by Governor Gavin Newsom to lead the Office of Health Equity (OHE) and se... Read Bio
David Rickless is a geographer and geospatial technologist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/A... Read Bio
Respondent:
John Auerbach is the Director of Intergovernmental and Strategic Affairs at CDC. Read Bio