2021 Incentive Grant Recipient: Letoia Clark, PharmD
Daniel A. Herbert Incentive Grant Award
Project Proposal: The COVID-19 Vaccine Conundrum - An Assessment of Vaccine Hesitancy Amongst Patients at a Federally Qualified Health Center
Letoia Clark, PharmD, currently serves as a PGY1 Community-Based Pharmacy Resident with the University of Missouri - Kansas City School of Pharmacy. Dr. Clark practices Medication Therapy Services at the KC CARE Health Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), located in the heart of Midtown Kansas City. She is a graduate of The Ohio State University College of Pharmacy.
"Global vaccination for COVID-19 is impending and evaluation of patient perceived barriers to receive a vaccine is vital to ensure widespread administration."
The World Health Organization (WHO) has listed vaccine hesitancy – the reluctance or refusal to vaccinate despite the availability of vaccines – as one of their top 10 threats to global health. Vaccine hesitancy has the potential to sabotage COVID-19 vaccination herd immunity and be detrimental to the success rate of novel vaccine therapies. The goal of this project is to evaluate vaccine hesitancy associated with epidemiologic factors amongst adult patients at a FQHC. Receiving an Incentive Grant from the APhA Foundation affords me the opportunity to research a solution to a problem that has been plaguing the healthcare field for centuries. I am excited to identify ways to combat vaccination hesitancy in an effort to overcome reluctance, optimize immunization practice, and strengthen the immunization neighborhood.