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The effort to bring COVID-19 vaccines to underserved communities around Washington

The partnership between Regence and UW Medicine has broken through long-standing barriers to health care for many of our neighbors. Sponsored by Regence BlueShield.

The campaign to educate people about COVID-19 and the vaccine that prevents it featured a lot of obstacles to all parties involved. Misinformation, disinformation and, in some communities, long-held mistrust and distrust of the medical profession were just some of the major challenges to overcome.

Regence BlueShield, through its philanthropic arm, partnered with UW Medicine to bring both information and the vaccine to people in these communities, resulting in over 7,600 vaccines administered to parts of the population that might not otherwise have access to the shot.

“Communities that have seen the most disproportionality with the pandemic in burden of disease and lack of access to book testing and vaccine, were able to get both testing and vaccine,” said Paula Houston, chief equity officer at UW Medicine. “That's really where my work and the work of the teams that I've been working with have focused, really – on equitable vaccines.”

Houston and her team, established pop-up clinics, mobile testing, and brought the essential medical services to underserved communities, providing clear, uncomplicated information in ways and languages that reach the intended audience.

“About 31% of the folks that we have vaccinated are limited English proficiency,” Houston said. “We're really getting into some communities that even in the best of times don't have the best access to care, and we've been able to connect with our Black, Indigenous (and) people of color communities.”

The Regence-UW partnership has a long history, just not in this way. When Regence realized they needed help getting their message out, they turned to their old friend.

“Our corporate foundation supported the University of Washington Medicine's timeline of vaccine distribution to marginalized communities,” said Claire Verity, president of Regence BlueShield. “Regence has been committed to educating local communities, addressing vaccine uncertainty, and really trying to remove those barriers to access in ways that are meaningful to those individuals that were working within the different communities.”

Regence’s vaccination efforts overall have resulted in 150,000 shots in arms, according to Verity.

Going forward, a lot has been learned about how to reach people in marginalized communities, but there’s still a long way to go.

“We've already been talking to communities about what would be useful to you? How can we continue to support your health equity and maintaining good health status?” Houston said. “[We're] also looking at how we can better support health status, health lifestyles and break down some of the barriers that don't allow people to access health.”

Strike Out COVID-19 with UW Medicine and the Seattle Mariners

UW Medicine and the Seattle Mariners are partnering together to help strike out the coronavirus -- making it easier for people to get vaccinated through community outreach and mobile vaccination efforts. Click here to visit their website and learn more.

Sponsored by Regence BlueShield. Segment Producer Joseph Suttner. Watch New Day Northwest 11 AM weekdays on KING 5 and streaming live on KING5.com. Contact New Day

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