COVID-19 Vaccination in Rural Areas

Key Federal Vaccination Information

COVID-19 Vaccination Clinical & Professional Resources
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Information on vaccine provision, including clinical information for each COVID-19 vaccine. Also offers resources to help healthcare providers communicate with patients about the vaccine.

COVIDVaxView: COVID-19 Vaccination Coverage and Vaccine Confidence
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
An interactive tool for exploring data on COVID-19 vaccination coverage, uptake, and intention by a variety of different factors, including geography, date of data collection, demographics, and more. Includes data by urban, suburban, and rural location in the Demographics section under Metropolitan Statistical Area.

Guidance for Local, Tribal, and State Vaccination Programs

COVID-19 Vaccine Equity for Racial and Ethnic Minority Groups
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Resources and guidance for national, state, tribal, territorial, local, and community partners to support vaccine equity efforts and ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines for racial and ethnic minority groups.

Community Vaccination Centers Playbook
Federal Emergency Management Agency
Provides guidance on federal support for Community Vaccination Centers, explaining federal support to state, local, tribal, and territorial governments in their COVID-19 vaccine administration efforts. Covers fixed facility, drive-through, and mobile vaccination clinics, with checklists of actions and conceptual layouts for each facility type.

COVID-19 Vaccine Resource Hub
National Association of Counties
Resources and information to help counties plan for and equitably distribute COVID-19 vaccines. Includes information on federal, state, county, city, and company vaccine policies. Provides data on vaccines administered and vaccine hesitancy. Offers resources on the county role in vaccination, county examples, vaccine funding, and more.

Rural-Specific Considerations

12 COVID-19 Vaccination Strategies for Your Community
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Identifies evidence-based strategies communities can use to promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence and uptake. For each strategy, describes the barriers it addresses and research base for the approach. A rural-focused addendum developed with partner organizations, Rural Considerations for Vaccine Confidence and Uptake Strategies, is also available.

COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout in Rural Communities: Challenges, Innovations, and Unmet Needs
Georgia Health Policy Center
Provides insights from rural, frontier, and tribal organizations about the COVID-19 vaccine rollout. Discusses challenges in rural communities, including access barriers and vaccine hesitancy, and shares innovative strategies being used to address these challenges. Identifies unmet needs and potential strategies as the vaccination process continues.

Ensuring an Equitable Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccines in Rural Communities
National Rural Health Association
Policy brief addressing rural access to COVID-19 vaccines. Discusses the vaccine infrastructure, distribution, transportation, and storage needed to reach rural residents. Provides guidance for national, state, and local leaders.

How to Conduct a Rapid Community Assessment: A Guide to Understanding Your Community’s Needs Regarding COVID-19 Vaccines
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Guide to help healthcare providers and other organizations understand the concerns of their communities related to COVID-19 vaccination and identify strategies to increase vaccination confidence. Includes sections specific to addressing vaccine confidence in tribal and migrant and seasonal farmworker communities.

Vaccination Considerations in Rural America
National Rural Health Association
Findings for a February 2022 poll of rural residents. Covers beliefs about vaccination, COVID-19 vaccination status, vaccination motivating factors and barriers, and post-vaccination behaviors.

Communicating to Rural Audiences About Vaccination

COVID-19 Vaccine Talking Points for Rural Leaders
National Rural Health Association
Provides messaging tips for communication that is clear, concise, and personalized to increase COVID-19 vaccine confidence in rural communities. Includes examples sharing facts about vaccination, how to protect local businesses and the economy, and how to help individuals protect themselves. Additional resources are also available in NRHA's COVID-19 Vaccine Resources.

We Can Do This: Rural Community Toolkit
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Resources community partners can use to build COVID-19 vaccine confidence and promote preventive measures in rural communities.

Overview of Barriers and Facilitators in COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach
Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Describes examples of promising and innovative COVID-19 vaccination outreach strategies, including strategies to build vaccine confidence in rural communities.

COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative: Rural Community Education Toolkit
Ad Council, COVID Collaborative
Identifies messaging principles to communicate about COVID-19 vaccination to rural residents. Includes customizable public service announcements, graphics, and other media for sharing facts about vaccination.

COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence
National Rural Health Resource Center, Legato Healthcare Marketing
Toolkit offering customizable communication materials on COVID-19 vaccination for use in rural communities. Includes templates for print ads, posters, brochures, and social media posts, and instructions for customization.

How to Address COVID-19 Vaccine Misinformation
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Strategies for sharing accurate information on COVID-19 and addressing misinformation using evidence-based messaging.

Public Health Communications Collaborative (PHCC)
Provides tools, resources, and learning opportunities to help communicate about public health issues, including COVID-19. Resources include an April 2021 webinar recording, Successful COVID-19 Messaging in Rural Communities.

Strategies for Reaching People with Limited Access to COVID-19 Vaccines
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Identifies approaches to help those who may need assistance accessing COVID-19 vaccination. Addresses strategies related to appointment scheduling, transportation, help for caregivers, help for those who are homebound or isolated, and more.

Ways Health Departments Can Help Increase COVID-19 Vaccinations
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Tips for generating demand for the COVID-19 vaccine in different community settings and online. Includes information on how to increase trust in the health department.

COVID-19 Vaccine Communications Toolkit for Health Centers
National Association of Community Health Centers
Resources to help health centers build confidence in the COVID-19 vaccines. Includes key messages for communicating with patients and answers to frequently asked questions. Also provides sample social media posts, a press release template, a radio public service announcement example, waiting room posters, and more.

COVID-19 Vaccination Communication: Applying Behavioral and Social Science to Address Vaccine Hesitancy and Foster Vaccine Confidence
National Institutes of Health
Shares evidence-informed communication strategies to support COVID-19 vaccine distribution efforts nationally and at the state and local levels. Discusses the goals of vaccination communication, understanding the needs and perspectives of specific audiences, and how to target and tailor messages. Includes some discussion of the needs of rural and underserved communities. A Communicator's Tip Sheet for COVID-19 Vaccination is also available.

Building COVID-19 Vaccine Confidence
Societal Experts Action Network (SEAN), National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine
Shares strategies to communicate with the public about COVID-19 vaccination to ensure demand and promote acceptance.

Supporting Access to COVID-19 Vaccination

Covid-19 Resource Center
National Center for Mobility Management
Shares examples of how transit agencies are helping with COVID-19 vaccination efforts. Includes recorded webinars showing how transportation and public health agencies can collaborate to ensure access to COVID-19 vaccines. Also provides examples of how transit agencies are contributing to vaccination efforts.

Rides That Save Lives Toolkit: COVID-19 Vaccine Equity for Older People
Age Friendly Arizona
Provides strategies and best practices to help community organizations, mobility providers, and other partners improve vaccine access for older adults. Includes information to help reach people who are homebound, who no longer drive, have a disability, or lack caregiver support. Also covers how to address concerns about vaccine safety.

Training and Technical Assistance for Providers

Clinician Outreach and Communication Activity (COCA) Calls/Webinars
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Up-to-date guidance for clinicians from subject matter experts on key emergency preparedness and response topics. Many recent calls are focused on COVID-19 vaccination and related concerns. Webinar recordings for past COCA calls are available.

COVID-19 CISA (Clinical Immunization Safety Assessment) Clinical Consultation
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Healthcare providers and health departments in the U.S. can request a consultation for a complex COVID-19 vaccine safety question that is (1) about an individual patient residing in the U.S. or vaccine safety issue and (2) not readily addressed by CDC or Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices guidelines.

COVID-19 Vaccination Training and Education
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Information and resources for COVID-19 vaccination providers. Includes training programs and modules, reference materials, and webinars for vaccinators. Also includes resources to help educate vaccine recipients.

FAQs for Private and Public Healthcare Providers About Implementing the CDC COVID-19 Vaccination Program in Provider Practices
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Provides guidance to healthcare providers about providing the COVID-19 vaccine, including storage, reporting, and patient education.

Talking with Patients about COVID-19 Vaccination
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Explains motivational interviewing as a tool healthcare professionals can use to talk with patients and families about COVID-19 vaccination. Identifies four steps to apply this approach during a patient visit.

Motivational Interviewing for COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy
New England Mental Health Technology Transfer Center Network
Video providing guidance from a psychologist on how to use an evidence-based approach to have productive conversations about the COVID-19 vaccines.

COVID-19 Vaccine Education Effort
Ad Council, COVID Collaborative
Video series addressing the efficacy and safety of the COVID-19 vaccines, targeted to specific audiences including healthcare providers and rural residents. Covers safety, availability, cost, side effects, vaccine administration, patient education, and more. A Partner Toolkit includes answers to COVID-19 vaccine FAQs and more.

TRAIN Learning Network: COVID-19 Vaccination Training
Public Health Foundation
A collection of online learning opportunities for healthcare professionals related to COVID-19 vaccination. Registration required to access courses.

Vaccination Information for Specific Populations

We Can Do This: COVID-19 Public Education Campaign
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
Resources to help community partners promote COVID-19 vaccine confidence and encourage prevention in the communities they serve. Includes educational materials in a wide range of formats and targeted to specific audiences. Provides information on the COVID-19 Community Corps, a grassroots network of people serving as trusted voices in their community regarding vaccination. Offers a variety of toolkits, including an American Indian/Alaska Native Tribal Leaders Toolkit.

Invest in Trust: A Guide for Building COVID-19 Vaccine Trust and Increasing Vaccination Rates Among CNAs
Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality
A guide to help nursing home leaders build confidence in COVID-19 vaccination among certified nursing assistants. Includes a conversation guide, posters, information cards, and more.

Vaccine Information and Tribal Support
National Indian Health Board
Resources and information to help tribes engage regarding the COVID-19 vaccine. Includes information from federal agencies, recorded webinars and presentations, insights from experts, and more.

COVID-19 Vaccine Education Initiative
Ad Council, COVID Collaborative
Vaccine education resources designed to reach different audiences, including communities of color disproportionately affected by COVID-19. Includes TV, radio, print, and digital public service announcements. Audience-specific toolkits: Community Education Toolkit, Black Community Education Toolkit, Black Faith Community Toolkit, Hispanic Community Education Toolkit, Hispanic Faith Community Toolkit.

COVID-19 Educational Resources for Farmworkers
National Center for Farmworker Health
Resources targeted to farmworkers addressing COVID-19 prevention, control, and vaccination. Materials are available in Spanish, Haitian Creole, and indigenous languages.

Vaccine Central
National Resource Center for Refugees, Immigrants, and Migrants
Resources to support health departments, community-based organizations, and others with vaccine efforts among refugee, immigrant, and migrant communities.