Los Angeles City Immunization Cooperative Agreements 2025 - Vaccination against infectious diseases is one of the greatest vanguard achievements of our lifetime. Not only have vaccines saved hundreds of millions of lives over the past 50 years, vaccines have led to increased parity in healthcare, reduced disability and morbidity, increased economic growth, and lasting societal benefits from increased life expectancy and opportunities. The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health, Vaccine Preventable Disease Control Program (VPDCP) oversees the prevention and response for vaccine-preventable diseases (VPDs) in Los Angeles County. Los Angeles County includes 88 cities, including the City Los Angeles which comprises of nearly 40% of the County’s population. VPDs have remained relatively low in Los Angeles City over the past 5 years. In 2024, there were a total of 187 confirmed, 33 probable, and 115 suspect VPD cases. Reasonably high coverage of childhood vaccinations has helped to keep the incidence of VPDs and outbreaks at bay but more work is needed to expand vaccine coverage to curb disease transmission and improve public health in our communities. In Los Angeles City, 94% of children were up to date on required vaccines for entering kindergarten, falling slightly below the threshold of 95% needed to prevent outbreaks. There are also pockets of under vaccinated communities in both low- and high-income areas which greatly increase the risk of disease spread and potential health complications from disease. In addition, adult vaccination rates continue to lag, with many adults unaware of the vaccines that they need and why they are important. Lack of adult vaccination infrastructure has challenged the ability to increase awareness of recommended vaccines and reduce barriers to accessing vaccines, particularly for uninsured and underinsured adults. This has been especially concerning for adult populations at high risk for adverse outcomes from VPDs, such as older adults, pregnant women, and residents in underserved areas with limited access to health care services. This 5-year funding opportunity will serve to enhance VPD prevention and response efforts for Los Angeles City. Resources will be used to support the expansion of robust surveillance and response systems to enable early detection and rapid response to VPDs. It will support the ability of immunization information systems to produce reliable data to estimate vaccination coverage accurately and provide the needed information to monitor, evaluate, and direct programmatic activities to where they are needed the most. Funds will strengthen access, confidence, and demand in immunization service delivery for Angelenos across all age groups, prioritizing access for underserved and vulnerable residents. Additionally, this award will ensure that strong public health networks and partnerships with providers and community-based organizations are fostered and maintained to support the immunization needs of the diverse communities they serve, while helping to identify immunization gaps that can be filled by Public Health. VPDCP looks forward to evolving its VPD prevention and response strategies in Los Angeles City through the strategies outlined in this funding opportunity. We are confident that strengthening program infrastructure and management; equitably increasing access, confidence, and demand for vaccines; strengthening our support for partners; and enhancing our readiness to public health emergencies will lead to increased vaccination coverage across the lifespan so that all Angeleno residents and communities can achieve optimal health and protection against VPDs.
