Children's Hospital Los Angeles Partners with Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to Launch Innovation Challenge Aimed at Getting Children and Teens to "VaxUp"

The Innovation Studio at Children's Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA) is partnering with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health (LACDPH) on the VaxUp Challenge: a three-phase innovation challenge to generate, test and scale creative solutions that will increase COVID-19 vaccination rates among children and teens in LA County, particularly in communities disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. Nonprofit and for-profit organizations with bold, creative ideas that can address the barriers and challenges to vaccinating young people in LA County are encouraged to register at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vaxup-innovation-challenge-tickets-187930574407.

Learn more at https://www.chla.org/VaxUpChallenge. For questions about how to get involved in the VaxUp Challenge, email [email protected].

"Even with the Omicron variant surging through our communities, we are seeing that vaccinations among young people have stalled, particularly among Black and Latino adolescents in LA County," says Omkar Kulkarni, Chief Innovation Officer at Children's Hospital Los Angeles. "The VaxUp Challenge seeks to incentivize innovation to address barriers to being vaccinated and to increase vaccine confidence, especially among youth, adolescents and their parents in our underserved populations. We see this as essential work in support of Children's Hospital Los Angeles' mission of creating hope and building healthier futures for children."

Phase 1: Idea-a-thon: February 10-11 from 9 a.m. ? 5 p.m. PST

• Applicants will participate in a two-day virtual event featuring expert speakers who will present on topics related to the challenge of increasing COVID-19 vaccination rates among children and teens in LA County. Organizations will rapidly generate and discuss feasible, original, creative and relevant vaccine promotions ideas, including digital solutions.

• A panel of reviewers will select the best, most feasible ideas and award these teams up to a $5,000 grant to use for the next phase.

Phase 2: User Research and Prototyping: February 12 ? March 11

• Teams will have one month to generate a prototype.

• A panel of reviewers will select the most scalable ideas and award these teams up to a $20,000 grant to use for the final phase.

Phase 3: Pilot: March 12 ? April 8

• Teams will design and begin to pilot their concept during Phase 3.

• A panel of reviewers will select the most feasible and sustainable projects and award these teams up to a $75,000 grant to use post-VaxUp Challenge.

https://www.eventbrite.com/e/vaxup-innovation-challenge-tickets-187930574407