The National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, the National Academy for State Health Policy, and the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy convene governor-appointed health equity COVID-19 task force leaders throughout the nation. This case study is part of a series that features innovative state practices to address health equity in COVID-19 response across the country.

Introduction

Alaska’s state public health and tribal health partnership exemplifies a co-leadership model that prioritizes health equity and acknowledges collective historical trauma associated with previous public health emergencies. State and tribal leaders co-led the COVID-19 vaccination effort including allocation, distribution, funding, and communication. As a result, many Alaska Native people received COVID-19 vaccinations despite Alaska’s geographic and transportation challenges. As of July 13, 2021, according to Alaska’s COVID-19 Vaccine Monitoring Dashboard, 47 percent of all Alaskans and 57.7 percent of the American Indian and Alaska Native population received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose.