When GOTV Meant Get-Out-The-Vaccine.

In March 2020, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global health emergency. By then, more than 50,000 Californians had died in the pandemic, with deaths disproportionately affecting seniors of color in both rural and urban areas.

Amid the chaos, scientists developed mRNA technology for a COVID-19 vaccine. An urgent campaign named "Get Out the Vaccine" (GOTV) was launched in California, with key operations managed by Centaur North. The program, executed in collaboration with UCLA's Clinical and Translational Science Institute, involved three nonprofits focused on reaching critical communities in the Central Valley.

California health officials enlisted Centaur North to help organize the GOTV campaign. We leveraged our extensive network of nonprofits across California communities. Managed by UCLA CTSI, the program selected three of Centaur's nonprofits to deploy boots on the ground in crucial Central Valley areas.

We organized the campaign like a political field operation—door-to-door canvassing, phone banking, text messaging, social media, vaccine clinics, and community events. Over twenty-four months, Centaur managed three projects: Todos Unidos, Environmental Justice Coalition for Water, and the Central Valley Workers' Center, becoming among the top producers in the state.

We hired nearly two hundred field workers, knocked on over 500,000 doors, made almost a million phone calls, and attended over a hundred community events, resulting in more than 25,000 vaccine immunizations. Our program concluded on February 15, 2022. Ten days later, on February 25, 2022, California Governor Newsom lifted nearly all COVID-19 lockdown orders, signaling the end of the pandemic.

We are honored to have played a part in saving lives.