L.A. Care Health Plan has awarded the City of Pasadena a $167,500 Community Health Investment Fund grant to boost COVID-19 vaccinations by the Pasadena Public Health Department (PPHD). PPHD will use the funding to administer a minimum of 8,000 COVID-19 vaccine doses to L.A. Care members living in Pasadena and 1,000 doses to Pasadena residents who are not members of the health plan. L.A. Care estimates this grant will help reduce the number of unvaccinated members in Pasadena by 17 percent.
There are currently more than 26,000 unvaccinated L.A. Care members living in Pasadena.
PPHD will use a variety of outreach strategies to reach these members and other residents, including home visits, vaccination pop-ups and off-site vaccine clinics in partnership with community organizations. The health department will also use video and ads produced for social media platforms, targeting young adults aged 18 to 25.
The project will prioritize communities that have disproportionately low levels of COVID-19 vaccinations, such as African Americans, Latinos, and White males. L.A. Care is partnering with PPHD to better target its unvaccinated members. PPHD will used trusted promotoras and community health workers to reach those who might be hesitant because of cultural beliefs or mistrust in government and health care agencies.
This commitment to the City of Pasadena is just one in a number of projects within L.A. Care’s COVID-19 Vaccination Response Plan to increase COVID-19 vaccination rates. Among the other efforts are a $2 million grant initiative to clinics to increase vaccinations in communities of color, live one-on-one calls to unvaccinated members by staff armed with facts to counteract misinformation, mailings promoting evidence-based information, and PSAs, billboards and a social media campaign promoting vaccine efficacy.
This grant aligns with L.A. Care commitment to advancing health equity. L.A. Care believes that everyone should have a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible.