  Citation: Alcendor, D.J.; Juarez, P.D.; Matthews-Juarez, P.; Simon, S.; Nash, C.; Lewis, K.; Smoot, D. Meharry Medical College Mobile Vaccination Program: Implications for Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Minority Communities in Middle Tennessee. Vaccines 2022, 10, 211. https:// doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10020211 Academic Editor: François Meurens Received: 17 December 2021 Accepted: 27 January 2022 Published: 29 January 2022 Publisher’s Note: MDPI stays neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affil- iations. Copyright: © 2022 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by/ 4.0/). Article Meharry Medical College Mobile Vaccination Program: Implications for Increasing COVID-19 Vaccine Uptake among Minority Communities in Middle Tennessee Donald J. Alcendor 1 , Paul D. Juarez 2 , Patricia Matthews-Juarez 2 , Sheena Simon 3 , Catherine Nash 3 , Kirollos Lewis 3 and Duane Smoot 3, * 1 Center for AIDS Health Disparities Research, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Physiology, School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208-3599, USA; dalcendor@mmc.edu 2 Department of Family & Community Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208-3501, USA; pjuarez@mmc.edu (P.D.J.); pmatthews-juarez@mmc.edu (P.M.-J.) 3 Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Meharry Medical College, 1005 Dr. D.B. Todd Jr. Blvd., Nashville, TN 37208-3501, USA; ssimon@mmc.edu (S.S.); cnash@mmc.edu (C.N.); kilewis@mmc.edu (K.L.) * Correspondence: dsmoot@mmc.edu Abstract: To end or curtail the COVID-19 pandemic, it is essential to incorporate mobile vaccination programs into the national vaccination strategy. Mobile COVID-19 vaccination programs play an important role in providing comprehensive vaccination from federally qualified institutions to underserved communities facing a higher risk for COVID-19 acquisition. The Meharry Medical College COVID-19 mobile vaccine program (MMC-MVP) has provided lifesaving COVID-19 vaccines, free of charge, to communities throughout Middle Tennessee. Mobile deployment is vital for those forced to travel long distances to get vaccinated and who have limited access to medical providers or vaccine clinics, lack access to public transportation, or may be homebound. The MMC-MVP, established on 13 April 2021, via funding from the Bloomberg Foundation, is sourced with infectious disease experts, nurse practitioners, and community engagement personnel to provide COVID-19 vaccinations and information in a culturally competent manner to diverse communities in Middle Tennessee. To provide broader access to COVID-19 vaccinations and vaccine-related information, the MMC-MVP partnered with the Tennessee Community Engagement Alliance, Vanderbilt University School of Nursing COVID-19 vaccine strike teams, non-academic, community-based organizations, and faith-based organizations. During the September 2021 COVID-19 surge in Tennessee, the MMC- MVP provided nearly 5000 free COVID-19 vaccinations to targeted, underserved communities. The MMC-MVP has provided vaccine equity in communities with the highest risk for acquiring COVID-19 and with greatest need in this pandemic. Keywords: mobile vaccinations; Tennessee; vaccines; COVID-19; disparities; minorities 1. Introduction Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2), the virus that causes COVID-19 disease and results in acute respiratory illness, is a newly emerged coronavirus that has reached pandemic levels as of March 2020 [1–4]. Infection with SARS-CoV-2 may produce asymptomatic and severe acute disease, which may be life-threatening, specif- ically in individuals with underlying medical conditions [5,6]. The recently developed and approved COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson have proven to be safe and effective and have been shown to protect vaccinated individuals from severe disease, hospitalization, and death [7–9]. Therefore, vaccinating the unvac- cinated is essential for mitigating these risks and preventing new infections [10,11]. The national strategy for the COVID-19 and pandemic preparedness program, established in Vaccines 2022, 10, 211. https://doi.org/10.3390/vaccines10020211 https://www.mdpi.com/journal/vaccines