In our first joint community investment, the Harvard Pilgrim Health Care Foundation and Tufts Health Plan Foundation are giving $1 million to support vaccine education, awareness and outreach in communities of color.

Just one month after Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan announced their combined organization, this investment is an immediate response to emerging needs in Black and Brown communities disproportionately impacted by the pandemic. The funding will support 42 organizations in five states.

“We are at an inflection point in the pandemic,” said Thomas Croswell, chief executive officer of the combined organization of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care and Tufts Health Plan, and a member of the Tufts Health Plan Foundation board. “As vaccine production and distribution are ramping up, important education efforts are taking place to address community concerns and we need to support them.”

Grant recommendations were informed by community organizations, public health leaders and other key stakeholders engaged in the vaccine rollout in Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island.