Norwalk health department releases rapid community assessment on childhood immunizations; recommends mobile clinics, provider outreach

Megan Fogno, special project manager for the Norwalk Health Department, and Omar Perez Rivera, the department’s community health worker, presented the department’s final rapid community assessment (RCA) on routine childhood immunizations at the Board of Health meeting on Feb. 25, 2025. The project was funded through the Connecticut Department of Public Health’s Immunization and Vaccines for Children COVID-19 grant (grant period Dec. 2023–June 2025) and the assessment was conducted in spring 2024.

The RCA combined existing data review, intercept interviews at playgrounds and pediatric offices, key-informant interviews, listening sessions and an anonymous English- and Spanish-language online survey developed with the Yale Griffin Prevention Research Center. Fogno said the final report and a short summary are posted on the department website and have been shared with community partners.

Omar Perez Rivera summarized key survey findings: 63.2% of respondents named medical organizations as their most trusted source for vaccine information, followed by schools (54.4%) and — unexpectedly — the police department (51.5%). About 75% of respondents said routine childhood vaccines are very important for keeping children healthy, while roughly 15.4% rated them not at all important or only a little important. On safety, 60.9% said routine vaccines are safe and a combined 18.7% said they are not at all safe or only a little safe. Perez Rivera said those responses indicate pockets of hesitancy that the department should address with tailored education and access strategies.

Fogno described barriers identified in interviews and listening sessions: lack of transportation to appointments, limited appointment availability and long wait times, the need for information and services in preferred languages (notably Spanish and Haitian Creole), requests for clearer provider communication about why vaccines are needed, and continued community circulation of misinformation (including incorrect links to autism or sterilization). She said the RCA includes a longer list of barriers and a suite of recommendations.

The department has used RCA findings to act quickly on access issues. Fogno said the department partnered with Walgreens and Filling in the Blanks Food Pantry to offer on-site flu vaccinations during a monthly food distribution; Walgreens vaccinated more than 60 residents during that event, and departmental staff provided translation and outreach at the site.

Recommendations presented in the RCA include informing parents about all Connecticut Vaccine Program pediatric providers in Norwalk, expanding partnerships with community stakeholders for outreach, offering clear materials on common mild side effects and how to manage them, and providing reliable resources for parents who want more vaccine-safety information before deciding to vaccinate. The RCA report, Fogno said, is being used for internal quality-improvement projects, accreditation and conference presentations.

Board member questions focused on sources and reliability of school vaccination data. In response, Fogno and Weeks explained that kindergarten vaccination reporting is submitted to the Connecticut State Department of Education and is vetted by the state health department; the report’s school-level percentages reflect those state-submitted counts.

The report will guide continued outreach and partnerships, including targeted mobile clinics, provider support, multilingual materials and community-based events to address access and misinformation.