Navigating Vaccines with Confidence: Assessing Current and Past Community-Based Vaccination Efforts in Rural Eastern North Carolina

<b>Introduction</b>: Vaccination has led to significant decreases in mortality over the last century but requires high levels of uptake to be successful in reducing a wide range of infectious diseases in communities. Vaccine hesitancy is on the rise in the United States with most adults not receiving all recommended vaccinations, and childhood vaccinations are declining. Living in a rural community with a lack of access to resources may further limit uptake of vaccines. Identifying strategies to enhance vaccine confidence and access may assist in increasing vaccine uptake. The purpose of this study was to describe the landscape of existing community-based vaccination efforts and assess the components of a successful community-based vaccination program in rural eastern North Carolina. To reach this purpose, we conducted qualitative interviews with those involved in running community-based vaccine education and navigation programming in rural eastern North Carolina." <b>Methods</b>: Researchers conducted 25 semi-structured interviews with participants involved in vaccination efforts in three rural counties in Eastern North Carolina. Interviews were transcribed, coded in NVivo version 14, and analyzed using thematic analysis to synthesize insights from participants. <b>Results</b>: Study participants held manager or coordinator roles in area health agencies, clinics, and pharmacies. Reported strengths of current vaccine efforts in Eastern North Carolina included patient education, strong partnerships between organizations providing vaccines, and ability to engage community members. Successful vaccine efforts have engaged participants through social media, flyers, trusted leaders, and the provision of convenient vaccine appointments. Areas for improvement in vaccine efforts included engaging a wider audience at vaccine events, building trust in vaccines among community members, and expanding vaccine education for hard-to-reach populations. Participants supported the development of a proposed community-based education and navigation program and felt that community members would be interested. Identified challenges included low participation due to vaccine hesitancy which could be overcome through incentives and delivery from trusted individuals. <b>Conclusions</b>: We found that there is still a need for trust building, education, and patient engagement within the landscape of existing community-based vaccination efforts for vulnerable populations in rural eastern North Carolina. Study participants indicated support for the development of a vaccine education program and researchers determined the project to be feasible. Based on the results of this study, researchers developed and implemented an integrated vaccine education and navigation program in Eastern North Carolina.