Vaccines

This brief explores issues related to risks related to COVID-19, vaccine priority in state plans, and other policy options that affect access to vaccines for people experiencing homelessness.

On March 19, 2021, the Biden Administration reached its goal of administering 100 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine since President Biden’s inauguration on January 20, 2021, by closing the day at 118,313,818. As of that day, over one-fifth (23.5%) of the U.S. population had received at least one dose of the vaccine.

In this Axios column Drew Altman writes about the recent attention to Republican vaccine resisters. “Republicans and rural Americans are among the most resistant vaccine holdouts and some strategies are emerging to reach them.” But “far from all Republicans are resisters” and “the bigger and quicker payoff will come from prioritizing the more moveable group of ‘wait and see’ Americans.”

This post provides summary of funding for COVID-19 vaccines and other public health efforts in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021.

As of February 2021, there are three COVID-19 vaccines approved for emergency use in the U.S. and states are playing a central role in their timely distribution and prioritizing eligible populations. Because Medicaid covers for over 77 million enrollees, including groups disproportionately at risk of contracting COVID-19 as well as hard-to-reach groups, Medicaid agencies can be important partners for the public health agencies that are typically leading the state COVID-19 vaccination efforts. This brief provides insights regarding how state Medicaid agencies are assisting with the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out including specific actions taken.

Just over half (54%) of people who received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from health centers were people of color, including 26% who were Hispanic and 12% who were Black. These shares are much higher than the shares of nationwide vaccinations. Learn more in this Chart of the Week.

More than half of those who received their first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine through a community health center were people of color, suggesting that health centers appear to be doing a better job of reaching people of color than are overall vaccination efforts, finds a new KFF analysis. People of…

This brief reviews information available through state websites and publicly available vaccine distribution plans to provide greater insight into how states are addressing equity through vaccine allocation and distribution strategies, outreach and communications efforts, and data collection and reporting. It provides a snapshot and examples of state efforts in these areas.

Many Relied on Another Person’s Help to Try to Get a Vaccine Appointment As many states and local authorities ramp up their COVID-19 vaccination efforts, the latest KFF COVID-19 Vaccine Monitor report provides the first in-depth look at Americans’ experiences trying to gather relevant information and sign up to get…

This report shows about half over the age of 65 say they have already received at least one dose of the vaccine or have scheduled an appointment to do so. It also examines how easy or difficult it has been for people to get an appointment and information about the vaccine, and where the public would most like to receive it.