Multilingual resource will support employer efforts to increase vaccinations and keep workers safe in an equitable way
BOSTON – Today the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition (VEN) is releasing a set of equity principles for workplace COVID-19 vaccine policies and safety practices. The resource is intended to guide employers through the process of implementing policies that will increase COVID-19 vaccinations, limit the spread of the virus and promote employee health and wellbeing, while taking into consideration the significant racial and social inequities that have been perpetuated by the pandemic and Massachusetts’s vaccine rollout.
“There is no doubt that widespread COVID-19 vaccination is our best tool to combat the spread of the virus, and workplace policies requiring employees to be vaccinated have been effective in increasing uptake,” said Dr. Atyia Martin, Co-Chair of the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition. “However, employers must take a thoughtful, collaborative approach to these policies that considers the racial and social inequities that existed long before the pandemic, have been exacerbated by the pandemic and have played out in the state’s vaccination program. We hope that this resource will help employers center equity in the development and implementation of these policies in a way that supports the health and wellbeing of everyone in the community.”
The guide emphasizes that employers have a key role to play in supporting health education and partnering with trusted messengers to get employees and their families vaccinated. It outlines strategies that employers could adopt to implement comprehensive workplace policies that are informed by significant employee engagement and promote their health and wealth. Some suggested strategies include hosting on-site vaccination clinics and testing that can be conducted on paid time, partnering with trusted community organizations to host on-site educational events, implementing comprehensive COVID-19 mitigation and prevention measures and offering a broad paid sick leave policy.
Equity Principles for Workplace COVID Vaccine Policies and Safety Practices: English, Spanish, Portuguese, and Haitian Creole.
BOSTON, MA – Today, the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) issued the following statement in response to the release of the House and Senate Conference Committee’s ARPA bill, which allocates $200M towards improving the state’s local public health system.
“This marks a major step forward in the effort to transform our dangerously inadequate and inequitable local public health system,” said Maddie Ribble, Director of Public Policy at the Massachusetts Public Health Association. “Thanks to the funding allocated in this bill, Massachusetts will move closer to a 21st-century local public health system that our state can be proud of. We are extremely grateful for the support of Senate President Spilka, House Speaker Mariano, Chair Rodrigues, Chair Michlewitz, Chair Hunt, and Chair Decker for their support of these critical investments, as well as for the unflagging leadership of Sen. Comerford, Chair Garlick, and Rep. Kane.”
“We are disappointed that essential policy reforms to address the significant structural challenges in our local health system were not included in the final conference bill. As a result, it is more critical than ever that the SAPHE 2.0 legislation is passed quickly into law,” said Ribble. “Funding is only part of the solution. To really fix this broken system, we must implement the policy changes that are desperately needed, as well.”
Findings underscore need for racial data, should inform equity strategy for vaccination of 5-11 year olds and boosters
BOSTON – Today the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition is releasing a new data visualization in partnership with Boston Indicators that depicts the inequities in COVID-19 vaccination rates among 12-19 year olds in Massachusetts. Overall, the scatterplot shows that many communities with higher cumulative incidences of COVID-19 and higher social vulnerability ratings have lower rates of vaccination among 12-19 year olds. Conversely, many communities with lower incidences of COVID and lower social vulnerability ratings have higher rates of vaccination among 12-19 year olds.
“We are nine months into the state’s vaccination program, yet we are still seeing the same inequities that plagued the program from the start. The data visualization we are releasing today shows in no uncertain terms that many of the Massachusetts communities that are most vulnerable in emergencies and have the highest cumulative COVID incidence also have the lowest vaccination rates for 12-19 year olds,” said Dr. Atyia Martin, Co-Chair of the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition. “We urge the Baker administration to recognize these inequities and use this data to guide their strategy moving forward as eligibility is expanded even further to 5-11 year olds and to the general public for boosters. Furthermore, we continue to urge the Department of Public Health to report vaccination rates by race/ethnicity and age, as well as COVID cases by age at the city/town level, to better understand the racial inequities in vaccinations.”
Proposed Investments Will Transform Broken System
BOSTON, MA – Today, the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) issued the following statement in response to the release of the Senate Ways and Means Committee’s ARPA bill, which allocates $250M over five years towards improving the state’s local public health system.
“The public health investments in this bill will truly be transformational,” said Maddie Ribble, Director of Public Policy at the Massachusetts Public Health Association. “After decades of debate, this funding will finally set Massachusetts on a path to fix our broken local public health system and ensure that every resident – regardless of income, race or zip code – has access to real local health protections. We are extremely grateful for the commitment and decisive leadership of Senate President Karen Spilka, Chair Michael Rodrigues, and Vice Chair Cindy Friedman, as well as for the tireless advocacy of Senator Jo Comerford.”
Together with the SAPHE 2.0 legislation, this investment will implement the 2019 unanimous recommendations of the Special Commission on Local and Regional Public Health, which established a blueprint for transforming our current system.
“Today’s action follows upon crucial House investments led by Speaker Ron Mariano, Chair Aaron Michlewitz, and Chair Marjorie Decker and years of advocacy by Chair Denise Garlick and Representative Hannah Kane,” said Ribble. “This is a truly a bipartisan, bi-cameral effort that will foster sustainable changes for decades to come.”
BOSTON, MA – Today, the Massachusetts Public Health Association (MPHA) issued the following statement, in response to the release of the House Ways and Means Committee’s ARPA bill, which allocates $150M over three years towards improving the state’s local public health system.
“We thank Speaker Ron Mariano and Chair Aaron Michlewitz, as well as Chair Marjorie Decker, for taking this crucial step towards fixing our state’s broken local public health system,” said Maddie Ribble, Director of Public Policy at the Massachusetts Public Health Association. “This funding is essential to beginning the transformation of our system over the next three years. Together with the SAPHE 2.0 legislation, this funding represents a major step towards ensuring that every Massachusetts resident – regardless of their income, race or zip code – has access to equitable, effective, and efficient local health protections. This major progress would not have been possible without the commitment and vision of Chair Denise Garlick and Representative Hannah Kane, and we thank them for their tireless advocacy over many years.”
MPHA is part of a coalition of public health experts, local and state officials, and academic leaders that have been calling for an infusion of federal funding to transform Massachusetts’ dangerously inadequate local public health system. The group has asked the Legislature to invest American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds coming to Massachusetts from the federal government towards building a local public health system that is equitable, efficient and effective.
BOSTON, MA – Today, a coalition of public health, municipal, regional, state and academic leaders held a press conference on the State House steps, calling for an infusion of federal funding to transform Massachusetts’ dangerously inadequate local public health system. The group is calling on the Legislature to invest 5% of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds coming to Massachusetts from the federal government – roughly $251 million over 5 years – towards building a local public health system that is equitable, efficient and effective. The funding would be used to:
Following the press conference, members of the coalition testified at the virtual hearing held by the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Ways and Means and the House Committee on Federal Stimulus and Census Oversight, which was focused on possible uses of the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) Funding in the areas of Health Care, Mental Health, Public Health and Human Services.
Baker administration has failed to comply with budget line item mandating establishment of benchmarks by July 30, 2021
BOSTON – The Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition is today applauding the Baker administration for reinstating their reporting of demographic data on COVID-19 hospitalizations. The move comes after the coalition sent a letter to the Department of Public Health urging immediate action to address the lapse in reporting and comply with Line Item 4000-0009 from the FY22 budget requiring the Executive Office of Health and Human Services to establish COVID-19 goals and benchmarks by July 30, 2021 in order to achieve equitable vaccine distribution in disproportionately impacted communities.
Although the Baker administration has resumed reporting demographic data on COVID-19 hospitalizations, it has still not set the benchmarks that the Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition has been calling for since February and that the FY22 budget mandated. The Line Item language specifically required the administration to consider demographic data on COVID-19 hospitalizations when establishing these benchmarks.
“The Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition is pleased that the Baker administration has finally listened to the calls of Black, Latinx, AAPI and immigrant leaders by resuming reporting of demographic data on COVID-19 hospitalizations,” said Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition Co-Chairs Dr. Atyia Martin of the Resilient 21 Coalition and Next Leadership Development, Myran Parker-Brass of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, and Carlene Pavlos of the Massachusetts Public Health Association. “This data is essential for measuring COVID-19’s disparate impact on BIPOC communities and devising an equitable public health response, especially as the Delta variant continues to increase cases, and there never should have been a lapse in the first place.
Coalition fears administration will not fulfill budget mandate to establish vaccine benchmarks that consider hospitalization rates
BOSTON – The Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition today sent a letter to the Massachusetts Department of Public Health requesting that the administration take immediate action to address a lapse in reporting of demographic data on COVID-19 hospitalization rates in Massachusetts. The coalition of racial justice, immigrant justice, civil rights and public health organizations is calling for a comprehensive, public explanation for why the State stopped reporting this data and information about their strategy to provide accurate, quality data and quickly reinstate this reporting. Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley, State Senators Sonia Chang-Diaz and Becca Rausch, State Representative Mindy Domb and Somerville Mayor Joseph A. Curtatone are also supporting the Coalition’s call.
“Demographic data on COVID-19 hospitalization rates is essential for measuring the disparate impact the pandemic has had on BIPOC and immigrant communities and for crafting a targeted vaccination strategy that centers equity. We know that Black and Latinx residents in Massachusetts have continued to be disproportionately impacted by COVID-19 while also having lower vaccination rates than white residents,” said Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition Co-Chairs Dr. Atyia Martin of the Resilient 21 Coalition and Next Leadership Development, Myran Parker-Brass of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, and Carlene Pavlos of the Massachusetts Public Health Association. “Especially as the more contagious Delta variant is rising in prominence and pushing case numbers up again, it is alarming that the Baker administration has suddenly stopped reporting this data and not provided a thorough, public explanation for the decision or outlined a strategy to begin reporting the data again. In order to adequately address inequities, we need to be able to measure them.”
Boston, MA – The Vaccine Equity Now! Coalition is today responding to the news that Massachusetts is about to reach Governor Baker’s goal of fully vaccinating 4.1 million people. Coalition Co-Chairs Dr. Atyia Martin of the Resilient 21 Coalition, Myran Parker-Brass of the Massachusetts Immigrant and Refugee Advocacy Coalition, and Carlene Pavlos of the Massachusetts Public Health Association issued the following statement:
“Massachusetts has made great progress on vaccinating a large percentage of the Commonwealth’s overall population, but a high quantity of shots administered does not ensure equity. Our work is far from over. Especially as new variants emerge and become dominant in the United States, it is essential that we act with urgency to ensure residents of Massachusetts’ hardest hit communities receive the funding, resources, education and access to the vaccine that they need.
“Massachusetts’ vaccination program has been deeply inequitable from day one. As of June 17, 56.5% of white residents were fully vaccinated compared to 40 percent of Black residents and 38 percent of Latinx residents. This is despite the fact that Black and Latinx residents have been disproportionately impacted by high COVID-19 hospitalization rates. Many of the 20 hardest hit communities continue to have vaccination rates that lag behind the rest of the state. The state must not pretend that these disparities don’t exist.
“While the Baker administration celebrates reaching its 4.1 million goal, we urge the Governor to double down on efforts to close these racial disparities that have persisted since the beginning of the vaccination program. One step that the administration can take immediately is to identify benchmarks to measure its progress on vaccine equity, which our coalition of racial justice, immigrant justice, public health and civil rights organizations has been demanding for four months now. To truly have a nation-leading vaccination program, we need to ensure that all of our communities are protected.”
Boston, MA – In response to today’s announcement from Governor Baker about the allocation of $2.8 billion in federal funds, Carlene Pavlos, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Public Health Association released the following statement:
“Governor Baker’s proposal today to allocate $2.8 billion in federal resources would provide support to many worthwhile public investments with public health benefit. However, the fact that the Governor has failed to make a single dime of investment in our state’s local public health system is both shortsighted and dangerous.
During the pandemic, we have seen just how inadequate, inefficient, and fundamentally inequitable our local public health system is. Despite the dedication of our state’s local health staff and volunteers, the Commonwealth’s decentralized approach to delivering public health services leads to extreme variability across municipalities and thereby puts every resident at risk. After witnessing so much needless suffering and death over the last months, the availability of billions of dollars in federal funding provides us with an unprecedented opportunity and the responsibility to transform this system once and for all.
As detailed last week by the Coalition for Local Public Health, by investing a modest portion of American Rescue Plan Act fund, Massachusetts can seize this once-in-a-generation opportunity to finally ensure that all residents benefit from an effective and equitable local public health system.
The Governor has ignored this opportunity, to the detriment of the residents of Massachusetts. Now, it is incumbent on the legislature to act and ensure that no resident lacks public health protections because of their race, income, or zip code. “
Massachusetts Public Health Alliance
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