Clinicians championing flu vaccine equity: what minority-serving clinics in the United States do and need

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

5-1-2026

Publication Title

Preventive medicine reports

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: Significant disparities in flu vaccination in underserved communities of color persist. To address these disparities, National Minority Quality Forum Center for Sustainable Health Quality and Equity collaborated with over 45 clinical practices throughout the United States to advance quality improvement (QI) programs aimed at increasing equity in vaccination and evaluate progress. METHODS: To assess effectiveness of the QI programs, we surveyed participating clinics online in March and April 2024. Separately we gathered data via email from practices to report on vaccination rates. RESULTS: Influenza vaccination rates increased one percent to 45% in 37 responding practices. Sixty percent of practices reported >90% staff vaccination rates. Higher patient vaccination rates were reported in clinics with staff vaccination requirements. Eighty percent of clinics reported vaccine champions. The top three needs cited in getting patients vaccinated were free vaccines for the uninsured, family and caregiver education resources, and staff training on addressing hesitancy. CONCLUSIONS: Education and support for clinicians working in these communities increases flu vaccination rates. The Flu DRIVE program had a positive effect on these rates in Black and Hispanic populations. Support for QI programs, immunization-related resources and increasing staff vaccination and hesitancy training could help further improve flu vaccination disparities.

First Page

103446

PubMed ID

41958956

Volume

65

Publisher

Elsevier

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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