Convention center to expand equitable vaccine distribution efforts

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Officials at the Baltimore Convention Center Field Hospital vaccination site are expanding community outreach measures in hopes of distributing the COVID-19 vaccine to the most vulnerable populations in the city.

The BCCFH, which is a public-private partnership of the Maryland Department of Health, University of Maryland Medical System and Johns Hopkins Medicine, plans to use on-the-ground strategies to reach people in “high-vulnerability ZIP codes” who qualify for the vaccine, officials said.

Employees will go to existing community sites within these neighborhoods, such as senior centers or places of worship, in hopes of identifying members of the public who are eligible for but have not yet received their vaccine. From there, they will help sign those individuals up for appointments and will provide additional assistance, such as coordinating transportation to and from the Convention Center, as needed.

The Hopkins and UMMS officials who oversee the field hospital say that equity has been part of the BCCFH’s vaccination model since the facility, which has been used throughout the pandemic as a testing site and an in-patient hospital, distributed its first doses in early February.

The field hospital uses a computer algorithm that helps them prioritize Baltimore residents, especially those residing in one of six ZIP codes that field hospital officials identified as high-vulnerability areas.

“The intent has been to really stay focused on, but not exclusive to, the Baltimore city ZIP codes,” said James Ficke, director of the Department of Orthopedic Surgery at Hopkins and one of the directors of the field hospital.

Through the use of this algorithm, the BCCFH has ensured that 40% of its vaccines have gone to Baltimoreans.

Chuck Callahan, vice president of population health at UMMS and the other director of the BCCFH, calls this identification of vulnerable populations and focus on Baltimore residents “the first strategic focus area” in the field hospital’s plan to distribute the vaccine equitably.

Entering into those communities to do face-to-face work is step two. Though this work is already underway, Callahan expects it to expand in the coming weeks as more people are hired to do outreach and as the BCCFH sets up phone centers to field questions about the vaccine.

These efforts will likely continue for the next 10-12 months as the vaccine is rolled out across all priority groups, rather than solely lasting long enough to assist those in Phase 1.

“We see this as a long game,” Callahan said.

In the coming weeks, BCCFH officials will also work to refine information technology tools they believe will help to make vaccine access more equitable. Soon, whenever someone who has signed up for the field hospital’s waitlist receives an invitation to make an appointment, the link they receive will be single-use — meaning that when they sign up for a slot, they can’t share the link they received with friends and family.

This is because the field hospital’s staff is intentional in who they invite to get vaccinated; multi-use links can sometimes get distributed through means like social media to people who do not fit into the BCCFH’s prioritization model.

“There are less vaccines than people who want it and as long as that is in place, we will support prioritization and reach out to those vulnerable populations,” Ficke said.