CDU Faculty Release Report on Vaccination Equity in South Los Angeles
Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science (CDU) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) Center for Behavioral and Addiction Medicine in collaboration with the California Community Foundation published the report “Equity and Access: A Roadmap to Improving Vaccination Equity in South Los Angeles.”
The report advises and provides insights on how to reach communities of color and those hardly reached to educate, build trust, and disseminate vaccines in South Los Angeles given historical experiences with medical mistrust. CDU authors on the project include Professor Nina Harawa and Assistant Professor Dr. Dilara K. Uskup.
The project seeks to facilitate community, public, private, and governmental partnerships to reduce COVID-19 vaccine inequity and educate communities of color in South Los Angeles about the COVID-19 vaccines through virtual town halls. The study also has a goal to navigate communities of color in South Los Angeles on how to access available COVID-19 vaccines.
The team of CDU and UCLA researchers systematically gathered perspectives and experiences around COVID-19 vaccination access and equity from various sectors of the community. They focused on three key groups in South Los Angeles: community members (i.e., essential workers), community leaders (i.e., clergy, faith-based leaders, and leaders of community-based organizations) and community providers (i.e., clinicians and clinical providers) for the focus groups and community education summits.
Click here to access the full report.