PROJECT SUMMARY
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused unprecedented public health and economic consequences globally and
in the United States. Long-standing social inequities have been magnified and vulnerable communities have
been disproportionately burdened by the pandemic. In Miami-Dade County, Florida, where minority populations
experience a high level of social vulnerability, Blacks and Hispanics are overrepresented in COVID-19 related
hospitalizations and deaths compared to national rates. Further, Miami-Dade County continues to experience
COVID-19 rates well above the state and national levels. Effective vaccines are now available, yet vaccination
rates have been persistently lower among U.S. minorities, broadening disparities in COVID-19 outcomes. As
such, expanded SARS-CoV-2 testing and vaccine acceptance is critical to mitigating community spread in
underserved and vulnerable communities. In this application for Phase II of the RADx-UP project, we will apply
the knowledge gained during Phase I to expand community outreach to increase testing and vaccine uptake in
minority communities to decrease disparities that contribute to burden of COVID-19 in underserved and
vulnerable populations. We propose to continue our RADx-UP community-engaged research by employing
new recruitment strategies in conjunction with four community partners to increase reach of testing that include
engaging faith leaders and minority health care providers, and placing our mobile testing (and vaccination) unit
in church parking areas. We will also conduct a longitudinal study among participants who completed Phase I
of the study to assess (a) changes in infection and vaccination status, (b) how the availability of vaccines
affects attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors related to testing, (c) changes in SDoH and their impact on COVID-19
testing and vaccine uptake/hesitancy, and (d) the relationship between mental resilience, mental health, and
testing and vaccine uptake/hesitancy, and (e) other RADx-UP common data elements. We will also conduct
post-infection and post-vaccination studies on antibody production and subsequent infections. For the
proposed Phase II application, we have partnered with new community organizations, including Keeping the
Faith to Fight COVID-19, an organization of minority health care providers working with Black and Black
Hispanic churches, and with the Community Engagement Alliance (CEAL) Against COVID-19 Disparities
initiative. We are currently conducting RADx-UP Phase I with established infrastructure and community
partnerships to accomplish the aims and enable rapid and measurable impact in access and uptake of SARS-
CoV-2 testing by underserved and vulnerable populations. Our community partners have the resources to
provide community engagement, public health mitigation, and follow-up care for cases who test positive. Our
strategy includes Scientific and Community Advisory Boards; a mobile testing unit; a CLIA-licensed laboratory
headed by the PI of this application; data mining and longitudinal approaches for data analyses; and a
research team experienced in recruiting and retaining members of the communities targeted in this proposal.
