ACL will award two grants totaling $125 million to rapidly increase the number of older adults and people with disabilities who have received the updated COVID-19 vaccine. Applications are due by Tuesday, December 6, 2022.
Disabled people and older adults have faced a disproportionate share of hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to significantly increased risk of serious illness and death from COVID-19, many faced barriers to accessing COVID-19 testing, treatment and vaccinations.
The aging and disability networks have played a pivotal role in helping older adults and people with disabilities overcome those barriers to get vaccinated. With that focused effort, most older adults and people with disabilities received the initial COVID-19 vaccine series, greatly reducing infections, hospitalizations and deaths.
However, far fewer people with disabilities and older adults have gotten the updated vaccine that both boosts immunity and protects against newer strains of the virus, putting them at increasing risk, particularly as people gather indoors over the holidays and during the winter. There is an urgent and critical need for additional focused efforts to increase vaccination awareness and uptake among these high-risk populations.
To begin to address that need, ACL will award grants to two national aging and/or disability organizations to develop and implement programs that rapidly increase COVID-19 and flu vaccination of older adults and people with disabilities. These programs will distribute funding and leverage partnerships across the aging and disability networks to host community vaccine clinics, provide in-home vaccinations, provide transportation to vaccination sites, conduct outreach and education to older adults and people with disabilities, and more.
The two grants will have complementary, but distinct, areas of focus:
- Option A ($75 million): Will establish and leverage partnerships and engagement with area agencies on aging, state No Wrong Door systems/aging and disability resource centers, centers for independent living, other ACL-funded disability networks, and other community-based organizations that serve older adults and people with disabilities.
- Option B ($50 million): Will build and leverage partnerships with senior centers, community centers, and local community- and faith-based organizations that reach older adults and people with disabilities.
Both programs will prioritize reaching older adults and people with disabilities who have been historically underserved and who face additional barriers to accessing vaccines, including but not limited to those who are from communities of color, LGBTQ+, Native American, live in rural areas, are at risk of institutionalization, low income, or have limited English proficiency. The grantees selected for each option will closely coordinate efforts to ensure their activities are complementary, rather than duplicative.
For more information, including complete eligibility and application information, see the full Notice of Funding Opportunity on Grants.gov.
Funding Opportunity Title: COVID-19 and Influenza Vaccine Uptake Initiative for Older Adults and People with Disabilities
Funding Opportunity Number: HHS-2022-ACL-AOA-HDRC-0043
Who is eligible to apply: Only national aging and/or disability organizations are eligible for these awards. The organizations selected to receive these grants will in turn distribute funding to community-level organizations. The process by which the applicant organization will make sub-awards to community organizations will be a significant factor in proposal evaluation.
This funding opportunity closes on Tuesday, Dec. 6 at 11:59 PM (Eastern Time).