What is it about?
The U.S. Cooperative Extension Service's Extension Foundation created a national funding and communication program (EXCITE) in response to the need for education around COVID-19 vaccines for adults and the lack of national adult vaccine education. Built on trusted partnerships with communities through land grant institutions, the local projects tailored materials and events for their communities, maximizing impact. Participants came from not only rural but also urban areas. From 2021-2023, as described, we served over 18 million individuals, and now the program has served over 50 million individuals providing up-to-date recommendations on all adult vaccines.
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Why is it important?
The EXCITE model has evolved over the years and continues to this day. The article provides an overview of the activities and structure and provides recommendations to others who may wish to partner with or implement similar programming. In particular, programming shifted from standalone vaccine education efforts to information embedded in larger whole health programs to maximize effectiveness as well as ongoing communication.
Perspectives
As a national project leader from the beginning of funding in early 2021 through summer 2025, I am exceedingly proud of the efforts and real impact this collaborative has made. The program demonstrated how working together across localities both provided resources and inspiration as well as helped efficiently get science-based information out to communities in a time of intense uncertainty and in the face of many kinds of skepticism. The work continues to provide updates and programming in partnership with communities while sharing effective strategies to integrate within larger health efforts.
Dr Kathryn A Stofer
University of Florida
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: Building EXCITEment for Vaccines in Rural Communities, American Journal of Public Health, December 2025, American Public Health Association,
DOI: 10.2105/ajph.2025.308258.
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