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VAX UP

Our team works with the Louisiana Department of Health (LDH), Office of Public Health (OPH), and Immunization Program (OPH-IZ) to increase vaccine coverage, increase vaccine knowledge and education, and decrease vaccine hesitancy in Louisiana. LCHI is entering its fourth year of VAX UP project efforts.

Through VAX UP, we assist and support OPH-IZ with the administration, monitoring, evaluation, coordination, and delivery of immunization-related programs and services. LDH will use the information we collect through VAX UP to improve its immunization program by enhancing the public’s knowledge of vaccination, thus increasing vaccination rates and decreasing negative health outcomes in Louisiana.

2023-2024 Key Project Features:

  • We conducted rapid community assessment surveys throughout all nine administrative regions of Louisiana. These surveys asked the public about whether they have received the COVID-19 and influenza vaccines, if they have vaccinated their children with routine childhood vaccinations, and other general questions related to their feelings toward vaccination. These surveys aimed to determine the Louisiana public’s perception of vaccination and the current degree of vaccine hesitancy.
  • We conducted focus groups on influenza vaccines, routine childhood vaccines, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccines in all nine regions. Through these focus groups, we wanted to ascertain local communities’ perceptions of vaccination. Each focus group was about one hour long and covered participants’ sentiments regarding each vaccine, their trust in the government related to vaccines, vaccine information sources, and potential improvements. Focus groups are a great way to discover information gaps people face in healthcare, as well as determine potential vaccine program improvements and current vaccine coverage.
  • We conducted social listening of vaccine conversations in Louisiana and the U.S. and prepared frequent reports of our findings. These reports monitored and assessed levels of vaccine hesitancy. They helped us discover threads of vaccine misinformation that may need to be addressed by LDH’s communication teams.
  • We launched social media accounts under the handle @ECHOatLCHI and created a social media campaign that has provided vaccine information and education focused for a Louisiana-based audience. Our vision for this campaign was to begin with content on the absolute basics of vaccination, then gradually move to more detailed information about specific vaccines.

In 2024-2025, we will continue our efforts of educating Louisiana residents about influenza, RSV, and COVID-19 vaccines while partnering with local organizations and regional medical directors across the state with the goal of improving vaccination rates.