Rural Health Clinic Vaccine Confidence Program

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This notice announces the opportunity to apply for funding under the Rural Health Clinic Vaccine Confidence (RHCVC) Program. The RHCVC Program is a Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) initiative to improve vaccine confidence, counter vaccine hesitancy, and help with access to vaccination in rural communities that are medically underserved and/or experiencing low COVID-19 vaccination rates.1 The RHCVC Program will allow Rural Health Clinics (RHCs) to use funding for a broad range of efforts to improve health care in rural areas and reinforce basic messages about prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases. Implementation efforts in rural communities may include, but are not limited to: vaccine promotion, information dissemination to rural residents about how and where to get vaccinated, coordinating with existing vaccination sites and public health partners to identify isolated and/or vaccine hesitate populations, and increased rural community and individual patient literacy on benefits of broad vaccination and the safety of vaccines. Because RHCs are trusted messengers in rural communities and provide consistent, fact-based public health messaging, the RHCVC Program will help rural communities make informed decisions about their health and COVID-19, including steps to protect themselves and their communities. People living in rural communities will be provided with vaccine education and help with access to vaccination, towards increasing vaccine uptake. This will improve health care in rural areas and reinforce basic messages about prevention of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

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