COVID IS NOT OVER IN THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN AND LATINO COMMUNITIES
Please Get Vaccinated
NBCI Community Spot Check Survey
Have you heard about the new COVID vaccine?
Do you plan to get the new COVID vaccine?
Do you know the availability of the new COVID vaccine in your community?
And is there anyone who is uninsured having problems getting the vaccine from their local pharmacy?
DOWNLOAD VACCNEWS TODAY!!!
- 150,000 Black Churches Support What Black Doctors are saying about the COVID-19 Vaccines
Following a thorough safety review, including two meetings of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the pause regarding the use of the Johnson & Johnson (Janssen) COVID-19 Vaccine in the U.S. was lifted on April 23, 2021 for adults aged 18 years and older in the United States.
- Why Were the Vaccines Made So Fast?
The vaccines were made so fast because scientists found a new way to make vaccines that works really well called the mRNA method. Many vaccines in the future will use this method and will be made just as fast. That’s very good news!
- Pregnant Women and COVID – Latest Research
If you are thinking about becoming pregnant, are pregnant, or have just
had a baby, getting COVID-19 vaccinations and boosters is a safe thing to
do.
- NBCI Statement on the Nation of Islam COVID Opinion
NBCI is disappointed in the Nation of Islam because of the bad science and disinformation about
COVID-19 vaccinations it is spreading in the Black community. Many of our members love and respect the work of the Nation
of Islam and its socioeconomic programs in our community, but the misinformation about COVID, the vaccines, the vaccines’
effectiveness, and whether the vaccines harm Black people is wrong.
After reviewing this program, we would hope that you will be able to examine demonstrate increased knowledge regarding the new seasonal trends related to outbreaks of Covid 19, Influenza and RSV (Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection), and why they are referred to as the "triple threat".
You should also be able to understand the recommendations for Covid 19, Influenza and RSV vaccine for pregnant women African-Americans and other vulnerable populations.
Panelists include:
- Dr Khadijah Lang MD, CEO/Medical Director, Lang Family Practice, Region Six Chair of the National Medical Association
- Virgina A, Caine, MD, Assoc. Professor, School of Public Health, Marion County Public Health Department Director
- Dr Dial Hewlett MD, Medical Director, Division of Disease Control, Chief of Tuberculosis Services for the Westchester Department of Health
Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is an infectious respiratory disease that can look and sound a lot like a cold, with coughing, sneezing and a runny nose.
But RSV can turn serious and send some patients to the hospital, particularly infants and young children. Learn more about what RSV is, including its causes, symptoms and treatment.
RSV is an illness that impacts the young and old alike. Watch as a panel of experts discuss everything you need to know and the latest developments in RSV vaccinations.
Panelists include:
- Reed Tuckson MD, FACP, Co-Founder Black Coalition Against COVID
- Adjoa Kyerematen, Vice President of Public Affairs and Communications at the National Minority Quality Forum (NMQF)
- Eric Griggs MD, Assistant VP Community Health Affairs Access Health Louisiana
- Oliver Brooks MD, Chief Medical Officer Watts Healthcare Corporation
- Angela Walker MD, OB/GYN Medical Director Humana
- Samira Brown MD, Pediatrician Board Certified
NBCI hopes this meeting will facilitate a rich discussion that will lead to practical steps and become a part of the overall pandemic protocol playbook now and in the near future. We seek to find what could have been done differently to strengthen community and faith-based relationships to avoid the 1.8 million fatalities of the pandemic.
PANEL INTRODUCTIONS:
Dr. Joseph Webster
Dr. Webster is an internist, gastroenterologist, and currently oversees NBCI’s COVID-19 Data and Information Committee. Dr. Webster will provide a brief overview of data related to disparities during the pandemic, interventions that intersect public health and the community that can mitigate the pandemic’s impact, and how leaders of faith-based communities can clarify timely messages about health to their members.
Dr. Cary Funk
Dr. Cary Funk is the Director of Science and Society Research at Pew Research Center. She has a wealth of experience in public opinion research and, for the past two decades, has specialized in the communities’ understanding of pertinent medical topics. Dr. Funk will share data regarding the pandemic’s impact and response within communities of color, including skepticism regarding vaccination and the role of social determinants of health.
Dr. Kimberlee Wyche Etheridge
Dr. Kimberlee Wyche Etheridge is an adolescent provider for the Meharry Pediatric Practice and works to further the intersection between public health and medicine. Dr. Etheridge has a strong interest in health outcomes/disparities and health equity, particularly as it relates to children and adolescents. Noting that conversations pertaining to underserved communities are typically within a pejorative context, Dr. Etheridge, instead, will discuss the strengths of partnering with community and faith-based organizations to successfully disseminate information and develop and implement response protocols.
Dr. Jennie Ward-Robinson
I would now like to welcome Dr. Jennie Ward-Robinson. Dr. Ward-Robinson is the Chief Executive Officer for the Society to Improve Diagnosis in Medicine. She is an internationally recognized global health leader dedicated to strengthening healthcare systems and fostering universal access to improve health outcomes in women and marginalized communities. The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified the racial disparities that exist in testing and diagnosis. The impact of these disparities in COVID-19 testing resulted in exacerbating the spread of the virus in vulnerable communities. Dr. Ward-Robinson will address those factors that limit entrance to testing and diagnosis and how they subsequently hinder pathways to care and provide a few systems-based strategies to increase access and uptake of testing in vulnerable communities.
Dr. Yolanda Lawson
Dr. Yolanda Lawson is a board-certified OB/GYN, founder of MadeWell OBGYN in Dallas, Texas, and Associate Attending at Baylor University Medical Center. Dr. Lawson is also the President-Elect of the National Medical Association. Today, Dr. Lawson will address the importance of awareness and education, particularly in vulnerable communities, as well as the significance of engagement with the entire sphere of providers to achieve equitable care and ideal outcomes.
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI) is currently implementing critical portions of our Comprehensive Engagement Plan as we prepare the African American community to receive the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccines.
Features of this Plan include education, outreach, the National Flu Campaign (NFC), a Mask Campaign, and a Media Campaign aimed to enhance any state-wide COVID-19 vaccination plans that are submitted to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC).
National Black Church Initiative Sustainable Action Plan to Maintain the Health of the African American and Latinx Communities
The National Black Church Initiative is extremely excited to share with you an Executive Summary of our plan to encourage a hundred million of our brothers and sisters in the Black and Latino communities to get vaccinated against COVID-19. The plan is called NBCI Building a Sustainable Action Plan for the Prevention, Detection, and Treatment of COVID-19 and Eliminating Health Disparities for the African American and Latino Communities, and it calls for cooperation and collaboration between all Black and Latino civil rights and human rights organizations.
Leveraging a network of 150,000 churches to advance the public's health could prove to be a potent national model for eliminating Black and Latino racial and ethnic disparities in health and health care across the US.
In 2021, NBCI announced a 5-year plan that offers the CDC its 150 000 Black and Latino churches across the US as vaccination centers. The plan will include a national advisory committee of 9 prominent Black and Latino physicians who have evaluated the effectiveness of each COVID-19 vaccine; will leverage approximately 1000 Black and Latino US medical professionals to administer vaccines; and will mobilize several million volunteers to raise awareness among and communicate to underserved communities, provide transportation to vaccination centers, and ensure that communities of racial and ethnic minority populations obtain their second vaccinations (when indicated).
The National Black Church Initiative (NBCI), a coalition of 150,000 Black and Latino churches, has assembled a group of nine Black and Latino physicians to assess the safety and efficacy of the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines.
They concluded, and we agree, that the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are both efficacious and safe, and that it is crucial that members of African American and Latino communities get vaccinated as soon as possible to keep them from being hospitalized with COVID-19 and dying in record numbers as they have over the past year.
NBCI COVID-19 Data and Information Committee
Dr. Joseph Webster, MD – Chairman
Dr. William Strudwick, MD
Dr. Anthony Ibe, MD
Dr. Lisa Fitzpatrick
Dr. Walter Faggett, MD
Dr. Fabian Sandoval, MD
Dr. Fuentes-Affick, MD
Dr. Glenn Flores, MD, FAAP
Dr. Mario F. Pacheco, M.D
Stay up to date on the most recent and detailed data for hospitalizations, deaths, emergency department visits, and vaccinations.
