Encouraging vaccine confidence in communities

Scarborough – The Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) recognizes that community-driven initiatives are fundamental to fostering confidence in vaccination.  As such, PHAC has partnered with community organizations to support increased access to credible and culturally appropriate information and education on vaccines, helping individuals make informed vaccination choices for themselves and their families.

Shaun Chen, Member of Parliament for Scarborough North, on behalf of Jean-Yves Duclos, Minister of Health, announced that PHAC invested over $286,000 in projects led by the Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario and the Federation of Black Canadians. Delivered through the Immunization Partnership Fund (IPF), these projects helped eliminate barriers to vaccination and build vaccine confidence in Black communities, disproportionally impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Black Physicians’ Association of Ontario ─ or BPAO ─ received just over $186,000 to deliver its project, the Black Health and Well-being Initiative.

This project supported the health needs of Black communities in Ontario by addressing disparities in access to vaccine information and education. BPAO also played an important role in improving their experiences, including through preventative screening initiatives and with culturally safe services, advice, resources, and recommendations. The BPAO has:

• provided 326 health clinics across the province and administered over 75,600 doses (and counting) across municipalities in Ontario, including Toronto, Peel, Windsor-Essex, Ottawa and Durham;
• strengthened confidence and trust for health in the Black community, with a focus on advocacy for better care for Black patients, for the collection of race-based data in healthcare, and for the development of a Black health strategy for COVID-19; and
• launched Black Health Talks, a patient-focused online health seminar series.

The Federation of Black Canadians (FBC) received $100,000 to deliver its project, COVID-19 Conversations with the Black Community.

This initiative helped sustain and strengthen vaccine confidence and promote COVID-19 booster uptake within Black communities by countering vaccine-related misinformation, empowering communities to lead regionally adapted approaches, disseminating findings from Black-led COVID-19 vaccine research and developing a national digital information campaign. The FBC has:

• combatted vaccine hesitancy and misinformation through various national online campaigns, including interactive vaccine health trivia and vaccine center mapping tools via social media;
• empowered youth groups to hold their sessions with their peers and community members to counter vaccine-related misinformation; and
• convened over 70 Black-led groups and individuals in national forums to share and increase vaccine confidence and provide counters to misinformation.

The IPF is a key component of the Government of Canada’s approach to advance population health protection against vaccine-preventable diseases, support vaccine equity, and improve vaccine uptake and access through public outreach and community mobilization.