The American Hospital Association (AHA) announced that it has received two grant awards totaling $6 million from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to advance public health and infectious disease prevention initiatives.

The first grant for $2 million builds on the #MyWhy Campaign, vaccine toolkits and other efforts to encourage Americans to take advantage of opportunities to receive COVID-19 vaccinations. The work aligns with the CDC's National Strategy to Reinforce Confidence in the COVID-19 Vaccine and has three key objectives:

1. Build Trust: Share clear, complete and accurate messages about COVID-19 vaccines and take visible actions to build trust in the vaccine, vaccinator and the system in coordination with federal, state and local agencies and partners.
2. Empower Healthcare Personnel: Promote confidence among healthcare personnel in their decision to get vaccinated and to recommend vaccination to their patients.
3. Engage Communities and Individuals: Engage communities in a sustainable, equitable and inclusive way, using two-way communication to listen, build trust and increase collaboration.

A second grant for $4 million will support collaboration between the AHA, CDC and community colleges through Project Firstline, CDC's national training collaborative for infection prevention and control. Community colleges play a critical role in the health care workforce pipeline, training more than half of all new nurses and other health workers nationally. Through this initiative, current and future generations can start their careers with a more solid understanding of infection control. The initiative will also promote connections between hospitals, learning institutions and other parts of the health care system.

Funding began February 1 and continues through September 29, 2021.

These grants were funded in part by a cooperative agreement with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (grant number CK20-2003). The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is an agency within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The contents of this resource center do not necessarily represent the policy of CDC or HHS, and should not be considered an endorsement by the Federal Government.