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Using data from the Louisiana Department of Public Health, we explored the spatial relationships between the Social Vulnerability Index (SVI) and COVID-19-related vaccination and mortality rates. Publicly available COVID-19 vaccination and mortality data accrued from December 2020 to October 2021 was downloaded from the Louisiana Department of Health website and merged with the SVI data; geospatial analysis was then performed to identify the spatial association between the SVI and vaccine uptake and mortality rate. Bivariate Moran's I analysis revealed significant clustering of high SVI ranking with low COVID-19 vaccination rates (1.00, p  < 0.001) and high smoothed mortality rates (0.61,  p  < 0.001). Regression revealed that for each 10% increase in SVI ranking, COVID-19 vaccination rates decreased by 3.02-fold (95% CI = 3.73-2.30), and mortality rates increased by a factor of 1.19 (95% CI = 0.99-1.43). SVI values are spatially linked and significantly associated with Louisiana's COVID-19-related vaccination and mortality rates. We also found that vaccination uptake was higher in whites than in blacks. These findings can help identify regions with low vaccination rates and high mortality, enabling the necessary steps to increase vaccination rates in disadvantaged neighborhoods., Competing Interests: Conflict of interestThe authors declare that the research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships construed as a potential conflict of interest., (© The Author(s) 2022.)

Background: Vaccinating susceptible populations quickly and safely is vital during a pandemic. Mass vaccination programs using a drive-through method have been shown to reach large numbers of people efficiently during vaccine campaigns., Methods: We performed a quantitative, cross-sectional study analyzing data collected by the COVID-19 mass vaccination program conducted by Louisiana State University Health Shreveport (LSUSH)., Results: Between December 2020 and September 2021, the vaccination program administered 90,655 COVID-19 vaccines. Among those who received at least the first dose of the vaccine, there were 21,700 men and 28,269 women; 22,820 were ≥60 years of age; 28,031 identified as Caucasian, 19,249 as African American, 47,916 as non-Hispanic, and most of them reported that they had not tested positive for COVID-19 before vaccination., Discussion: The LSUHS vaccination center served people from different regions within Louisiana as well as those from outside Louisiana. Vaccination is a crucial public health measure in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic., Conclusions: Our study showed that the mass vaccination program conducted by LSUHS had a considerable positive impact on communities in Northwest Louisiana. This drive-through method is an effective strategy with which to reach a significant number of people during a pandemic., Competing Interests: Conflicts of interest The authors declare that the research was conducted without any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.