Policy and Practice | December 2022

technology speaks By Jaime Bloom and Meghan Lamberti

My Turn: How California Accelerated COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

T he U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced emer gency use authorization for the first COVID-19 vaccines in December 2020. It was a stunning accomplishment by scientists who collaborated globally with unprecedented speed and innova tion. The work that followed— getting shots into arms—required an equally high level of collaboration. That was especially true for the state of California, which faced some unique challenges related to vaccine communication and distribution. The first challenge is its population of 39.5 million, which would make it the 37th largest country in the world. The second is the state’s geography. Remote towns are interspersed with densely populated mega-cities, all supported by the state’s network of 61 local health jurisdictions (LHJs) and community and private providers. The third chal lenge is the diversity of Californians, who hail from all over the world. In the early days of the pandemic, many were skeptical of government policies, unsure of their access to vaccines, and distrustful of the media. Skepticism was particularly high in minority com munities, the same communities most affected by COVID-19. Despite these challenges, California ultimately emerged as a leader in vaccine communication and distribu tion. In fact, the state reached the Biden Administration’s target—having 70 percent of adults partially vacci nated—in June 2021, a month ahead of schedule. Key to this success was an ecosystem of partnerships that spanned the public and private sectors

and focused on engaging effectively with people throughout the state. “Everyone Will Get aTurn” The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) worked with Accenture to develop a solution to help get California vaccinated—quickly and equitably. The solution needed to build trust and confidence in CDPH, an entity that wasn’t yet a household name among the state’s diverse audi ences. It had to accelerate federal partnerships and coordinate work across the state’s 61 LHJs and thou sands of healthcare providers. It also had to be nimble enough to respond rapidly to expanding eligibility criteria

and vaccine availability while priori tizing equitable distribution. To address the public and the medical community in a scalable yet highly personalized way, the team created My Turn—which is part digital experience, part multifaceted com munications strategy. With the initial platform launching in just 10 days, My Turn became the centralized source of vaccine-related information for the public and medical communities. It also offered a clear message: Everyone will get a turn—we’ll make sure of it. My Turn addressed the state’s diver sity by supporting 14 languages on the

See My Turn on page 34

Illustration by Chris Campbell

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