TMA Grants to Help Your Practice Improve Local Vaccination Rates

Vaccines Defend What Matters is TMA’s integrated, multimedia public health education and advocacy effort to overcome vaccine hesitancy and increase vaccination rates in Texas.

At a time when the public is hearing mixed messages about the safety of vaccines, Vaccines Defend What Matters sends a strong message from trusted physician leaders that choosing to be immunized against infectious disease safeguards public health, jobs, schools, and the Texas economy. 

As part of this effort, TMA Foundation (TMAF) offers grants of up to $3,500 to fund vaccination activities, educational resources, and community outreach events. County medical societies, TMA Alliance chapters, medical student chapters, and TMA member-physician practices/clinics can apply.

Eligible applicants are expected to be involved in programs or events that either directly provide vaccinations or promote vaccine education. Grants are not limited to but can fund shot clinics to vaccinate underserved and uninsured children, adolescents, and adults, events that educate the public about vaccinations, and/or outreach initiatives that address vaccine hesitancy.

Applicants whose focus is in areas of greatest need will receive priority funding. These include Texas counties with low immunization rates and high rates of conscientious exemptions.

Apply for a Grant 

• Feb. 1 - Grants open; first round of funding for 2022
• Mar. 1 - Application deadline
• Apr. 15 - Grant funds disbursed 
• Additional grant cycles will available later this year. Please check back for details.

A log-in is required for the TMA Foundation grant portal*. Applicants only need to apply once per grant cycle. Funding cannot be used to reimburse for previously held events or activities so applicants should apply in advance of program or event start date (if program or event is grant dependent). Grantees have up to 12 months from receipt to use all awarded funds. 

*If you have not previously applied for a grant, you may need to create an account. This portal is different from your TMA website login.

Questions? Email us for more information. You may also call our office at (512) 370-1664 and leave a message. There may be a delayed response time as we are working from home during the pandemic. Additional TMA Foundation Grants

 THANK YOU to All Recent Grant Recipients

2021 Round Three:

• Lone Star Pediatrics (Midlothian) – Aims to provide COVID-19 vaccinations and education to eligible school-age students, their families, teachers, first-responders, and other at-risk populations by hosting accessible weekend/after-hour clinics.
• El Paso Pediatric Associates, PA – Plans to participate in a public "Health Fair" where flu and COVID-19 vaccines will be provided along with accessible vaccine education for families.
• Dell Medical School at the University of Texas at Austin – Seeks to empower Texas public school students in underserved communities to educate and advocate for COVID-19 vaccinations among their peers in conjunction with coordinated school vaccine administration sites.
• PediDocs Pediatric Clinic (San Antonio) – Plans to provide accessible COVID-19 vaccinations for eligible children and working families in hosting after-hour clinics.
• Dallas County Medical Society – Aims to engage African American and Latinx physician leaders in video recorded conversations with local faith leaders from underrepresented communities to address and combat the top fears and misinformation about COVID-19 vaccines. These recorded conversations will be made available to faith leaders for distribution to their congregations as well as dissemination to local community leaders.
• Bexar County Medical Society (San Antonio) – Plans to administer COVID-19 vaccines on school campuses in lower-income school districts across the San Antonio area to improve access for students and their families.

2021 Round Two:

• Bell County Medical Society (Belton) – Will provide influenza vaccinations to uninsured, underserved patients seen at the local community health clinic.
• Nueces County Medical Society Alliance (Corpus Christi) – Plans to provide a free flu vaccine clinic in October to the homeless, uninsured, underserved, and other at-risk populations that Corpus Christi Metro Ministries serves in the community.
• UT Medical Branch Galveston: Family Medicine Interest Group – Aims to implement a Influenza, Tdap, and Pneumonia immunization events for underserved/uninsured members of the community this fall, in collaboration with St. Vincent's Student Clinic and The Luke Society Clinic.
• City of Victoria – Seeks to provide the flu vaccination at no cost to citizens experiencing homelessness or low-income individuals or households that do not have access to the flu vaccine.

2021 Round One:

• Mika K. Cole, M.D., P.A. (San Antonio) – Provided COVID-19 vaccinations, and worked to combat vaccine hesitancy in underserved and non-English speaking communities in San Antonio.
• UT Southwestern TMA Medical Student Chapter (Dallas) – Increased access to the flu vaccine, and provided vaccine education to combat vaccine hesitancy through a student run clinic at Brother Bills Helping Hands in West Dallas, an underserved community.
• UNTHSC Foundation/UNT TMA Medical Student Section (Fort Worth) – Held flu shot clinics to vaccinate and educate underserved and uninsured children, adolescents, and adults in Tarrant County with a primary focus on refugee populations.
• RotaCare Free Clinic (El Paso) – Provided COVID-19, Influenza, HPV, Hep B and Tdap shot clinics as well as partnered with TTUHSC El Paso to provide patient vaccine education and outreach, and to improve health outcomes for communities in El Paso.
• Spring Branch Community Health Center (Houston) – Provided children ages 4-12 with vaccines necessary to be ready to enter school. During the event, each child received a backpack full of school supplies.
• Texas Tech University Health Science Center School of Medicine/TMA Medical Student Section (Lubbock) – Reached-out to insured and uninsured individuals who have not had access to HPV vaccines, and provided them with education as well as access to the vaccine series for protection from preventable cancer.

Vaccines Defend What Matters Information