The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated social and health inequities across Canada, and vulnerable populations have experienced the most severe impact. Community Health Centres (CHCs) across the country are very often the first line of support for vulnerable and marginalized members of the community, and they have experienced first hand the disproportionate impact of the pandemic on those they serve.

From the outset of the pandemic, CHCs across Canada mobilized quickly to address the ongoing and emerging healthcare and social support needs of vulnerable individuals and groups. CACHC has been able to document much of this inspiring work across Canada via research, interviews and first hand accounts, and other action and impact reports.

With the approval by Health Canada of COVID-19 vaccines, CACHC and provincial CHC associations across Canada engaged the Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) in early 2021 around the potential to further mobilize CHCs in support of vaccine confidence and uptake by vulnerable and marginalized groups. The result was creation and funding of five interconnected “Community Vaccination Promotion (CVP)” projects across Canada.

Via the CVP National Project, CACHC is collaborating with four provincial CHC association partners at a CVP National Coordination Table to ensure coordination and alignment across the five projects and to scale activities from the individual projects. CACHC’s CVP project partners at the table are:

• CVP-BC: British Columbia Association of Community Health Centres
• CVP-MB: Manitoba Association of Community Health
• CVP-NS: Nova Scotia Association of Community Health Centres
• CVP-ON: Alliance For Healthier Communities (Ontario)

Through the five CVP projects, CACHC and partners are working collectively to improve confidence in, access to, and uptake of COVID-19 vaccines among vulnerable populations across Canada. CACHC’s CVP-National Project provides funding directly to nine CHCs aimed at enhancing local community engagement and improving confidence and uptake of vaccines. The nine CHCs are:

• The Alex Community Health Centre (Calgary, AB)
• Boyle McCauley Health Centre (Edmonton, AB)
• CUPS Calgary Society (Calgary, AB)
• The Gathering Place (St. John’s, NL)
• Jasper Place Wellness Centre (Edmonton, AB)
• Le ​Dispensaire Centre de Santé Communautaire (Saint-Jérôme, QC)
• Regina Community Clinic (Regina, SK)
• Saskatoon Community Clinic (Saskatoon, SK)
• SWITCH Student-Led Health Centre (Saskatoon, SK)

These CHCs are undertaking a diverse range of vaccine promotion activities to encourage uptake of the COVID-19 vaccine, including:

• Outreach to engage with individual clients and families in the community.
• Connecting community members with front-line workers, Indigenous leaders, and peer ambassadors to foster community connections.
• Holding community events including pop-up and mobile clinics, traditional Indigenous ceremonies, food and entertainment events to educate and support conversations around vaccine promotion.
• Creation and dissemination of culturally and linguistically relevant education and information resources to community members.
• Providing direct support for clients through other ongoing services and programs at the CHC.

Direct support and engagement with CHCs in British Columbia, Manitoba, Nova Scotia and Ontario is being provided by CVP projects in those provinces.

In addition to direct project funding for CHCs in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Quebec, and Newfoundland and Labrador, CACHC is undertaking a number of other Canada-wide activities through the CVP-National Project.

• Documenting Best Practices and Resources: CACHC is engaging CHCs and provincial CHC association partners to identify, document, and disseminate experiences and promising practices in vaccine promotion with diverse equity-deserving populations.
• Knowledge Dissemination/Translation: CACHC is using its diverse communications platforms to undertake public messaging and promotion of vaccine update drawing from CHC-based and other evidence-informed information sources.
• Community of Practice: CACHC is developing a vaccination promotion community of practice to support routine knowledge exchange and collaboration among CHC service providers and other staff related to vaccine promotion and vaccination services.
• Knowledge Hub: CACHC is developing a new national resource hub being developed for community health centres to access and contribute resources, information, and tools for use by CHCs across the country.

As the pandemic evolves, so too are CACHC’s activities and areas of focus within the CVP National Project. Most recently, CACHC has received PHAC’s support to undertake research, best practices, and resource support for CHCs related to rollout of the new pediatric vaccine for COVID-19. It is anticipated that the project will continue to evolve over the months ahead as the context and nature of the pandemic evolves. This will include knowledge exchange among CHCs across Canada related to booster shots, issues pertaining to emerging variants, and the future potential for COVID-19 as chronic or seasonal concern.

CACHC is grateful to PHAC for support provided under the five CVP projects, recognizing the important role and leadership of CHCs as nimble, multi-sector organizations that are able to adapt and meet complex health and social support needs at the community level. Over the coming weeks and months, we look forward to sharing further updates from CVP National including project descriptions and outcomes from the nine CHC initiatives funded through CVP National.

The views expressed herein do not necessarily represent the views of the Public Health Agency of Canada.