One of many ways the Texas Medical Association fights to bridge gaps in care, the Vaccines Defend What Matters (VDWM) program has announced its first round of 2024 grantees, who address pressing immunization needs while reaching underserved communities.
Groups interested in applying for the next round of VDWM local impact grant must do so by the final 2024 deadline of Oct. 4.
VDWM is dedicated to supporting local efforts to address vaccine hesitancy and improve vaccine education and vaccination rates in Texas. Through support from the TMA Foundation, VDWM provides local impact grants to TMA county medical societies, medical student chapters, TMA member-physician practices, and TMA Alliance chapters.
While some grantees aim to get children routine vaccinations before the back-to-school and respiratory illness seasons, those groups also have a unique opportunity to connect with adults in the family who may also need different immunizations. Other grantees are dedicated to reaching populations that often fall through care gaps and ingraining physicians into their communities.
Two grantees in this round have utilized VDWM local impact grants in the past, choosing to make TMA a part of their community’s care.
Meet the first round of 2024 VDWM grantees:
- Spring Branch Community Health Center will provide vaccines to uninsured, low-income children in need in the Spring Branch and West Houston area to help ensure participating children’s immunizations are up to date before the start of school.
- Lirios Pediatrics will host free influenza and COVID-19 vaccine clinics for uninsured children in Travis and Williamson counties.
- Texas Tech University Health Science Center at El Paso will partner with RotaCare Clinic's influenza vaccine drive, inviting underserved and migrant adults to receive free flu vaccines.
- HOMES Clinic, Healthcare for the Homeless – Houston will provide influenza, Tdap, pneumonia, and COVID-19 vaccines for patients who are unhoused in Houston through three vaccine events.
- The Bexar County Medical Library Association will provide vaccine education and address community vaccination hesitancy through their "Ask a Doctor" program at vaccination clinics and health fairs, as well as providing vaccines for people who are homebound.
- The Pediatric Clinic, PA will develop animated vaccine education material building on the trusted relationship between the clinic's pediatricians and the northeast Texas community, with the goal of pediatric patients completing their early childhood vaccination schedule.
Please refer to the local impact grant webpage for the full details on the application process. Those applying for the next round must do so by Oct. 4 and approved awardees will be notified by Nov. 15. If you have any questions, please email TMA’s public health staff.
Last Updated On
June 17, 2024
Originally Published On
June 17, 2024