These States Found the Secret to COVID-19 Vaccination Success

Because Washington state health officials failed to prioritize the planning of basic logistics for disseminating the COVID vaccine, the state quickly fell behind others in vaccinating the most vulnerable and at risk. Realizing that a significant part of the failure stemmed from a reliance on the already overtaxed healthcare sector to deliver the vaccine, the state has since enlisted the National Guard to provide vaccinations at various sites and has seen some improvement.

West Virginia relied on strategic partnerships, collaboration, and efficient use of medicine to successfully outpace every other state in the U.S. in COVID-19 vaccine distribution. Rather than turning to nationally-run chain pharmacies to disseminate the vaccine, the state partnered with local pharmacies to better reach long-term care facilities and collaborated with the West Virginia National Guard to overcome logistical barriers.

Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Hong Kong, and Japan all implemented similar comprehensive public health emergency plans that successfully reduced the spread of coronavirus in each region. Although each country used tactics such as travel restrictions, widespread testing, transparent communication, and quarantine protocols, Taiwan and South Korea are emerging as models for other countries due to the structure of democracy.

When Covid-19 cases began to be reported in Washington state, the state government – at the suggestion of local health officials – enacted some of the most stringent restrictions in the nation. Although these actions did not come without trade-offs, in Seattle, the strategy has resulted in "the lowest death rate of the 20 largest metropolitan regions in the country."

Denmark has one of the highest COVID-19 vaccination rates in part because decisions around the distribution campaign was centrally organized. All doses start at the national institute for epidemic control and are sent to the country’s five healthcare regions, where they were prioritized to hospital workers and residents and employees of nursing homes. Special identification numbers in an online system helps notify residents of their vaccine appointment date. The country also made their own decision about how many vaccines they can get from a single vial, increasing it from five to seven.

At the start of the coronavirus pandemic, public health officials in Flint, Michigan began tracking the demographics of those who were testing positive for the virus in order to better align the county's public health action and outreach. In doing so, officials realized that a lack of access to testing in predominately Black neighborhoods was a contributing factor and decided to launch mobile testing, barrier-free sites, and other interventions at the state level.

Denmark public health workers have been able to distribute nearly their entire supply of the COVID-19 vaccine thanks in part to early preparation tactics and "a capable health system." Although the country had to procure special freezers and pay more by choosing to move forward with the first vaccine on the market, the success to administer the vaccinations to the public "far outstrips other EU countries."

West Virginia managed to deliver approximately 90% of the COVID-19 vaccine doses allocated to the state within a week by "charting its own path to vaccine distribution." Rather than rely on chain stores as part of the vaccination plan every other state has done, the West Virginia government partnered with local pharmacies who were already serving rural populations and long-term care facilities to piggyback off of those already-established relationships.

When a smallpox outbreak was deemed to be a likelihood in New York City in 1947, the city’s health commissioner rapidly launched a vaccination campaign that leveraged internal collaboration, consistent and transparent communication, and contact tracing. The effort culminated in more than six million people receiving vaccination in under a month, and only 12 infections and two deaths total. While this "public health triumph" hold lessons for the current COVID-19 pandemic, experts caution, “It’s almost inconceivable that we’re going to be able to do something similar as rapidly and as effectively.”

A failed response to the outbreak of Ebola in the Democratic Republic of Congo has helped prepare the country's government and health officials to respond more successfully to the coronavirus pandemic and other public health crises. Several lessons that have proved especially important include the development of a research unit, focusing attention on supporting the community members rather than suppressing the virus, and improving public health communication.