Public Health—Seattle & King County shares this article from the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), highlighting the important partnership work of schools, SBHCs, and community partners to support student COVID vaccination last year:
With programmatic and strategy support from Public Health’s Immunization program and the COVID-19 Schools and Child Care Task Force, Seattle Public Schools (SPS) implemented a COVID-19 vaccination program through multiple community engagements to combat the low student COVID-19 vaccination rates. The MMWR report highlights these efforts, reporting that from December 2021–June 2022, COVID-19 vaccination coverage among SPS students aged 5–18 years increased from 56.5% to 80.3%. The report highlights the fact that school health providers might be able to leverage community partners and relationships with families to increase student vaccination coverage.
Strong relationships and investments with trusted partners are the key to success. In King County, we were particularly successful with children’s COVID vaccinations in schools and communities where we’ve invested in School-Based Health Centers, partnering with local healthcare providers and schools, including Seattle and Renton. These partnerships are possible with strong public backing through the voter-approved Seattle Families and Education Levy and the King County Best Starts for Kids levy, both of which support School Based Health Centers in Seattle and King County schools. Those investments provided the foundation for our extended COVID vaccination efforts through schools.