COVID-19 may have called for social distancing, but it certainly couldn’t keep community collaboration and partnerships from thriving. In summer of 2020, when COVID-19 cases were just beginning to rise, Hennepin County partnered with Volunteers of America to conduct COVID-19 testing and provide health education on COVID-19 safety precautions to the residents in Minneapolis public housing complexes. The testing model utilized by Hennepin County and Volunteers of America was highly successful, and when the Minneapolis Health Department identified residents of Minneapolis Public Housing complexes as a priority population for COVID-19 vaccinations, they knew they had an effective model to build upon.  

The Minneapolis Public Housing Authority (MPHA) serves residents in Minneapolis to ensure that they have a place to call home. Residents of public housing make up a vibrant community of families, older adults, and people with disabilities from all ethnic, cultural, and community groups. However, as MPHA’s Director of Housing Choice Vouchers Kyle Hanson described, many factors such as close quarters, limited health literacy, and lower-income created an environment that put the residents at a higher risk of getting COVID-19.  

As soon as COVID-19 vaccines were available in Minnesota, the Minneapolis Health Department partnered with MPHA, Volunteers of America, the Minnesota Department of Health, and COVID Community Coordinators — community-based organizations contracted by MDH to connect Minnesota’s diverse communities to COVID testing, vaccination, and other resources – to bring COVID-19 vaccines to 39 high-rise apartment complexes. Lara Pratt, Minneapolis Health Department’s senior public health specialist on the Healthy Living Team, worked closely with MDH’s African Community Liaison team to connect with partners and community organizations to make these vaccination events a success. Pratt stressed that while the Minneapolis Health Department convened and coordinated the effort, the vaccination events would not have taken place without “leveraging the best of what each entity could bring.”  

Overcoming challenges  

The collective vaccine team faced many challenges in vaccinating residents in 39 high-rise apartment complexes. Pratt noted that “There was a real urgency to get this done as quickly as possible. And some days, they would have four or five building vaccination events going on at the same time, making staffing a challenge.” She credits the Minneapolis Health Department, who served as the site lead at each building for coordinating the process, and Hennepin Healthcare with providing enough staff to give residents vaccines. Without them, the “vaccination process would have dragged out” and left vulnerable residents unprotected. One challenge brought up by everyone involved was addressing misinformation, and in some cases, figuring out what the misinformation was before they could even address it. For instance, many residents believed that this was not a vaccination event, but a ploy to give all residents COVID-19. It was not until the team overheard this from residents that they were able to soothe their fears. The COVID Community Coordinators and Volunteers of America staff helped address misinformation and increased vaccine confidence in all 39 apartment complexes. They also worked with the Somali Medical Association of American Physicians to address questions on the vaccine and its side effects and to provide accurate COVID-19 information.