Like many states across the country, COVID-19 cases and deaths have impacted communities of color in Michigan at disproportionately higher rates than whites. A staggering reality is that while African Americans (AA) represent only 13.6% of Michigan’s population, they represent 40% of the deaths from COVID-19. Half of the cases and deaths in Michigan occurred in Wayne County. Other Counties in the lower half of Michigan have similar disparities including Genesee, Washtenaw, and Kent. In Genesee County, where African Americans represent 20.3% of the population, they represent 35% of COVID-19 cases and 45% of deaths. In Washtenaw County, nearly half of the cases to date are located in two majority low-income zip codes in the city of Ypsilanti. African American residents, who make up 12% of the Washtenaw population, disproportionately constitute more than a quarter of the cases. And in Kent County, while 10.8% of the population is Latinx (LX), this ethnic group makes up 32.4% of COVID-19 cases. It is unquestionable that this crisis has exacerbated existing racial/ethnic inequity and health disparities in Michigan. Preliminary data from the state reveal that these disparities will likely worsen due to significant hesitancy, fear, mistrust and misinformation regarding the COVID-19 vaccine if nothing is done to change current trends. This proposal, entitled Community-Centered Interventions for Improved Vaccine Uptake for COVID (CIVIC), is designed to directly address and decrease COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccine uptake among populations that experience COVID-19 related disparities. We will focus on the four counties within Michigan where a disproportionate burden of COVID-19 is within AA and LX communities, i.e., Wayne, Genesee, Kent and Washtenaw Counties. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, CIVIC will leverage: its long term relationships with the communities involved, an established CBPR Steering Committee developed and the knowledge gained as a Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) grant recipient, the resources and networks of the University of Michigan CTSA (MICHR), and the expertise of our academic partners to identify and understand factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in AA and LX communities in Michigan. We will develop and test interventions based on community-centered approaches to achieve a primary goal of increased vaccine uptake. We will achieve this goal with the following aims: 1: Increase understanding of the barriers and drivers of vaccine uptake and hesitancy; 2: Increase vaccine uptake and decrease vaccine hesitancy through the implementation and evaluation of a multilevel intervention; 3: Increase vaccine uptake and decrease vaccine hesitancy through the implementation and evaluation of an individual level tailored intervention; and 4: Maintain, enhance, and evaluate the effectiveness of the CIVIC partnership to equitably engage all partners.

This proposal, entitled Community-Centered Interventions for Improved Vaccine Uptake for COVID (CIVIC) involves a community-based intervention designed to increase the uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine in African- American and Latinx communities. Using a community-based participatory research (CBPR) approach, CIVIC will leverage our long term relationships with our expert community partners, the resources and networks of the University of Michigan CTSA (MICHR), our CBPR partnership developed and knowledge gained as a Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) grant recipient, and the proficiency of our academic partners, to identify and understand factors that contribute to COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy in AA and LX communities in Michigan and develop and test novel multilevel interventions to achieve the primary goal of increased vaccine uptake.