Hawaiʻi’s Rural Health Clinics Received $297,000 for COVID-19 Vaccination Efforts

The Biden-Harris Administration provided $297,174 to support six rural health clinics in Hawaiʻi with COVID-19 vaccination efforts during a time when many communities are facing increased challenges caused by the highly contagious Delta variant.

The resources will be used to combat COVID-19 misinformation by developing and implementing additional vaccine confidence and outreach efforts. 

The funding was made available by the American Rescue Plan and is being administered by the Health Resources and Services Administration through the Rural Health Clinic Vaccine Confidence (RHCVC) Program.

“Rural health clinics play a crucial role in supporting our national vaccination effort to defeat COVID-19,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said. “This funding will give trusted messengers in rural communities the tools they need to counsel patients on how COVID-19 vaccines can help protect them and their loved ones.” 

Rural health clinics are well positioned to disseminate information about how and where to get vaccinated at the local level, and coordinate with existing vaccination sites and public health partners to identify strategies to increase vaccine confidence among key populations.

The clinics also will use this funding to improve health literacy, focusing on vaccine safety and the benefits of broad vaccination for rural communities. These efforts will improve health care in rural areas by reinforcing key messages about prevention and treatment of COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.

The grant awards are based on the number of certified clinic sites each rural health clinic operates, providing approximately $49,500 per clinic site.

The Health Resources and Services Administration also awarded a $750,000 cooperative agreement to the National Organization of State Offices of Rural Health to provide technical assistance to the Rural Health Clinics participating in this program.

To view a state-by-state breakdown of this funding visit: www.hrsa.gov/coronavirus/rural-health-clinics/confidence/funding.

For more information about HRSA’s rural programs, visit: https://www.hrsa.gov/rural-health/index.html.

To learn more about HRSA’s Rural Health Clinic Vaccine Confidence Program, visit: https://www.hrsa.gov/coronavirus/rural-health-clinics/confidence.