Identifying COVID-19 Vaccine Deserts and Ways to Reduce Them: A Digital Tool to Support Public Health Decision-Making
Abstract
A private–academic partnership built the Vaccine Equity Planner (VEP) to help decision-makers improve geographic access to COVID-19 vaccinations across the United States by identifying vaccine deserts and facilities that could fill those deserts. The VEP presented complex, updated data in an intuitive form during a rapidly changing pandemic situation. The persistence of vaccine deserts in every state as COVID-19 booster recommendations develop suggests that vaccine delivery can be improved. Underresourced public health systems benefit from tools providing real-time, accurate, actionable data. (Am J Public Health. 2023;113(4):363–367. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2022.307198)
Public health leaders can make better, more equitable decisions when they can clearly see and understand the problems. Being presented with potential solutions based on evidence further supports their decision-making and can aid in supporting health equity.
Research Areas
