By Sarah Holder
Read the full article from CityLab, here.
One of several reforms aimed at reducing fatal interactions between police and those with behavioral emergencies, D.C.’s pilot aims to route more 911 calls to social workers.
By Katie Rogers
Read the full article from The New York Times, here.
Biden administration officials, anticipating that regulators will make the vaccines available to 5- to 11-year-olds in the coming weeks, are laying out plans to ensure that some 25,000 pediatric or primary care offices, thousands of pharmacies, and hundreds of school and rural health clinics will be ready to administer shots if the vaccine receives federal authorization.
By Rod Watson
Read the full article from The Buffalo News here.
“The Rev. George Nicholas, chair of the African American Health Equity Task Force – who also signed the letter – pointed to the health disparities and wondered aloud if people are OK with that, adding, ‘We need to have a real conversation about what’s important in this region…We’re burying too many people,’ he said. ‘I get too many funerals of people who are not old.’ But Nicholas also took a more encouraging tack, saying, ‘The potential to do a much bigger thing is right there.'”
By Deidre Williams
Read the full article from The Buffalo News here.
“In Buffalo, predominantly Black and brown neighborhoods such as the East Side’s 14215 ZIP code and 14201 on the Lower West Side have higher infection rates. They were among 10 Buffalo ZIP codes initially targeted for mass vaccination at the Delavan Grider Community Center to reach traditionally underserved neighborhoods with higher infection rates and more hesitancy about the vaccine.”
By Ellen Goldbaum
Read the full article from UB News Center here.
“You don’t get to be a physician of color and not engage in these conversations,” Collier said. “The paucity of diversity has made us, the medical students, the ones that our community goes to on so many issues. For example, to mitigate vaccine hesitancy. We play so many different roles.”
By Caitlin Dewey
Read the full article from The Buffalo News here.
“In New York, white residents have received a disproportionate share of vaccines in each of the state’s 10 regions and in all five counties of Western New York. That disparity is especially dramatic in Erie County: While white residents make up just over 81% of the population, they account for almost 91% of the newly vaccinated. Black residents, on the other hand, represent 5.7% of all vaccinated people (compared to 13.1% of the population), while Asian residents make up 2.5% of those vaccinated (3.6% of the population) and Hispanic residents make up 2.2% (4.5% of the population).”
By Thomas O’Neil White
Read the full article from WBFO here.
“Acknowledging that racism is a public health threat to communities of color, the Buffalo Common Council and local healthcare advocacy groups are prioritizing the equitable distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to the city’s Black and Brown communities. The acknowledgement is part of a larger challenge to the pervasiveness of systemic racism, with health care being one of its pillars.”
By Larry Hamilton
Read the full article from The DC Post here.
“Researchers behind the study noted the percentage increased to 35 among the surveyed Black adults, as this group said they ‘definitely or probably would not get vaccinated,’ even though they are affected disproportionately by the pandemic and dying at almost three times the rate of white Americans.”
By Sarah Mizes-Tan
Read the full article from CapRadio here.
“[Cofer] believes the key to getting higher vaccine uptake in the Black community is going to rest on organizations going through trusted community leaders first. Cofer, an African American woman, says she’s still researching what’s been released by Pfizer and Moderna, and the potential for any side effects on African Americans. Some early studies have shown there is a chance the vaccine might be slightly less effective for people of Asian or Black ancestry.”
By Bertha Coombs
Read the full article from CNBC here.
“Seven out of 10 African Americans know someone who’s been hospitalized or died from Covid, according to a Pew Research poll conducted last month. Yet vaccine skepticism runs high. Only 42% of Blacks surveyed say they plan to be vaccinated, compared with more than 60% for Americans overall.”