AHA Receives $1 Million CDC Grant to Continue Vaccine Initiatives

WASHINGTON (September 16, 2021) – The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced today that the organization received $1 million in grant funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to continue COVID-19 vaccine confidence efforts through September 2022. 

The AHA previously received a $2 million grant from the CDC in February 2021 that ends September 29, 2021. Since the first grant announcement, the AHA launched a comprehensive vaccine education program to support the hospital field, clinicians and members of the public. Specifically, the AHA has:  

• Released three public service announcements in English and Spanish and a consumer-facing web page to address vaccine questions and link to reliable information;
• Recruited 40 trusted clinical ambassadors to lend their voices to radio news releases, op-ed pieces and media interviews in their communities;
• Produced more than 50 hospital and health system stories, education events and podcasts highlighting successes and lessons learned; and
• Continued the #MyWhy social media campaign highlighting the reason physicians, nurses and other health care providers chose to get vaccinated.

These initiatives and others are available to health system leaders and the public at aha.org/VaccineConfidence.

The second year of grant funding will build on these initiatives while continuing to seek input and participation from the field on how best to communicate about the vaccine with hesitant populations. The work aligns with the CDC’s National Strategy to Reinforce Confidence in the COVID-19 Vaccine.

“The people who work in hospitals and health systems are trusted in the community, which is why we have been steadfast in getting them the resources they need to communicate effectively about the vaccine with their patients,” said Michelle Hood, executive vice president and chief operating officer at the AHA. “We are excited to continue to partner with the CDC and AHA members to listen to patients and answer their questions about vaccines, so we can defeat this virus for good.”  

Funding will begin September 30, 2021 and continue through September 20, 2022.

These grants were funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number CK20-2003). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this resource center do not necessarily represent the policy of CDC or HHS, and should not be considered an endorsement by the Federal Government.

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Contact:        Sean Barry, 202-626-2306, sbarry@aha.org
                     Marie Johnson, (202) 626-2351, mjohnson@aha.org

 
About the American Hospital Association
The American Hospital Association (AHA) is a not-for-profit association of health care provider organizations and individuals that are committed to the health improvement of their communities. The AHA advocates on behalf of our nearly 5,000 member hospitals, health systems and other health care organizations, our clinician partners – including more than 270,000 affiliated physicians, 2 million nurses and other caregivers – and the 43,000 health care leaders who belong to our professional membership groups. Founded in 1898, the AHA provides insight and education for health care leaders and is a source of information on health care issues and trends. For more information, visit the AHA website at www.aha.org.