Penn Today: An approach to COVID-19 vaccination equity for Black neighborhoods

Nationwide, the rollout for the COVID-19 vaccine has been inequitable, with white individuals being vaccinated at higher rates compared to Black individuals. Leaders from Penn Medicine, Mercy Catholic Medical Center, and the community partnered on designing and running a series of community-based clinics that vaccinated almost 3,000 people, 85% of whom were Black. A retrospective of their efforts on the three initial clinics was published in NEJM Catalyst. While the paper describes the efforts in detail, Lee, senior author Eugenia South, an assistant professor of emergency medicine, and other members of the team describe some of the main takeaways for cities, health systems, nonprofits, and others looking to equitably distribute the vaccine, including locate rotating clinics in the heart of Black neighborhoods, adapt clinics to be scalable in any space, and embrace a low/no-tech approach. Read more at Penn Today.