Manchin, Capito announce funds for bringing more vaccines to area

WASHINGTON — A pilot program to is in the works to increase COVID vaccinations and testing in West Virginia’s rural and more vulnerable communities.

U.S. Senators Joe Manchin, D-W.Va., and Shelley Moore Capito, R-W.Va., announced last week $3.5 million has been earmarked for the Community Education Group (CEG).

The funding comes from Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and will “support and expand vaccination efforts in rural communities, including recruiting and training healthcare workers, distributing the COVID-19 vaccine and other vaccines that protect against preventable diseases.”

“The COVID-19 vaccines authorized for emergency use by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) are safe, effective and our best chance at defeating the COVID-19 pandemic,” Manchin said. “But it is critical that we work together to increase vaccine confidence for West Virginians living in rural communities. I am pleased the CDC is investing in the Community Education Group to do just this while also supporting community outreach efforts to benefit public health.”

Manchin said CEG “remains a strong partner for the Mountain State, and I will continue to work with organizations, communities and state and local governments to vaccinate more West Virginians to keep ourselves, our loved ones and our communities safe.”

Capito said state has already shown it can get the vaccine job done and this will help enhance efforts.

“Our COVID-19 vaccine distribution in West Virginia was one of the strongest in the nation, setting the example for communities across the country,” she said. “This effort was vital to our states’ recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and it helped save countless lives. I’m glad to see this funding from the CDC headed to West Virginia to help continue that success, while strengthening vaccine distribution efforts across rural communities in the future.” 

A. Toni Young, Executive Director of CEG, said after the announcement the program is aimed at helping with other health issues as well.

“We want to thank Senator Manchin and Senator Capito for helping the Community Education Group bring additional public health resources to West Virginia to address the COVID19 pandemic as well as the growing HIV, Viral Hepatitis and Substance Use Disorder syndemic in West Virginia,” she said. “The resources will significantly expand CEG’s work on the frontlines of the syndemic and COVID. These life-saving services for the people of West Virginia wouldn’t be possible without our industry partner, Gilead Science, who provided an initial two year $500,000 award supporting CEG in building the necessary infrastructure to fulfill this mission. Plans for these new CDC funds include recruiting and supporting a cohort of contract nurses and community health workers, as well as establishing training centers in Morgantown and Charleston where CEG can train outreach workers and build capacity to fight this statewide syndemic within the COVID pandemic.”  

The program is called “Lessons Learned, Lessons Applied,”  and the grant will enable CEG to “build the evidence base of effective interventions to improve vaccination coverage and to identify and implement strategies to reduce disparities in vaccination coverage in rural and at-risk populations throughout West Virginia.

CEG anticipates additional resources to replicate this program throughout the Appalachian Region, and later expand nationwide to rural America.

According to the CDC, COVID-19 incidence in rural areas surpassed that of urban areas in September 2020. As of April 2021, COVID-19 vaccination coverage was lower in rural counties (38.9%) than in urban counties (45.7%). These disparities are consistent across all age groups and genders. The Delta Variant surge raised rural cases of COVID-19 five-fold since June 2021, according to Kentucky-based news organization The Daily Yonder, which monitors rural cases nationwide.

“Life-saving services for the people of West Virginia wouldn’t be possible without our industry partner, Gilead Sciences, who provided an initial two-year $500,000 award supporting CEG in building the necessary infrastructure to fulfill this mission,” said Young. “Plans for these CDC funds include recruiting and supporting a cohort of contract nurses and community health workers, as well as establishing training centers in Morgantown and Charleston where CEG can train outreach workers and build capacity to fight this statewide syndemic within the COVID pandemic.”