Community Health Workers during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Community health workers (CHWs) played crucial roles during the pandemic. They deployed to educate their communities about how to prevent COVID-19; supported COVID-19 vaccination and food distribution events; and helped to save lives in vulnerable communities. Emergency funding from CDC to strengthen the public health workforce and infrastructure not only supported pre-pandemic CHWs, but also allowed for CHW programs to grow. Now that funding is winding down, the sustainability of some CHW programs is in question. But there is no doubt that CHWs demonstrated their value during the pandemic.