ABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: The Illinois Medical Professionals Action Collaborative Team (IMPACT), a non-profit coalition of health professionals, used social media to improve COVID-19 vaccine access by 1) identifying vaccine access disparities for HCWs not affiliated with a large hospital systems and then creating vaccine clearinghouses/social media campaigns 2) identifying reasons for vaccine hesitancy and addressing them via infographics 3) connecting volunteers with local neighborhood/mobile events serving at-risk communities in the Chicagoland area. In January 2021, many large health systems were vaccinating employed HCWs (COVID-19 vaccine rollout Tier 1a). However, many HCWs not affiliated with large systems were unable to access the vaccine. Many of Chicago's hardest-hit communities were receiving vaccines at much lower rates than neighborhoods less burdened by COVID-19. METHODS: We created online clearinghouses with links to vaccine event sign-ups/waitlists and partnered directly with a local primary care organization to link HCWs to vaccines on Facebook. We partnered with health systems, community organizations, pharmacies and professional organizations to organize, promote, and staff community-based vaccine clinics/mobile vaccine units to a. To address vaccine hesitancy, we collected data on common myths using Facebook groups. We created 5 “debunking” infographics in both English and Spanish using climate science principles and also held 4 Facebook Live Q&As with Chicago-based Bump Club and Beyond. RESULTS: The HCW-specific vaccine information clearinghouse went live 1/4/2021 and had 7,829 views during the first 6 months. The general public vaccine clearinghousewent live on 1/25/2021 and had 21,279 views during the first 6 months. Facebook posts disseminating the HCW vaccination events reached >1650 HCWs within 7 days, and open/public Facebook group posts reached > 3.2K in 7 days. In the first 7 days of the campaign, >1800 HCWs were vaccinated. We registered >1700 volunteers to help staff 316 vaccination events in the Chicago-land area. Our COVID-19Myth Debunkers were shared over 200 times for >80K impressions. Our four vaccine-focused Facebook lives reached over 1000 people per session. CONCLUSIONS: Healthcare professionals can strategically leverage social media to identify public health challenges (vaccine hesitancy/vaccine access disparities) and address these challenges in real-time by disseminating tailored, high-quality information (ie. debunking infographics, Facebook Live Q&As, vaccine clearinghouses) and connecting community members and partner organizations with resources (ie. vaccination resources and volunteers).