Vaccinating Black Americans is essential Key states aren t doing the work to combat hesitancy – Raw Story rawstory.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from rawstory.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vaccinating Black Americans is essential; key states aren’t doing the work to combat hesitancy Though African Americans are being hospitalized for COVID-19 at more than triple the rate of white Americans, wariness of the new vaccine is higher in the Black population than in most communities. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention highlighted communities of color as a “critical population” to vaccinate. But ProPublica found little in the way of concrete action to make sure that happens. It will be up to states to make sure residents get the vaccine, but ProPublica reviewed the distribution plans of the nine states with the most Black residents and found that many have barely invested in overcoming historic mistrust of the medical establishment and high levels of vaccine hesitancy in the Black community. Few states could articulate specific measures they are taking to address the vaccine skepticism.
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Pfizer Vaccine Vials May Come with Extra Doses; FDA Advises on Usage
The first shipments of the Pfizer vaccine have been going out to major hospitals all week, but there’s not nearly enough to go around. Some facilities received just 975 doses during the first round with workforces of over 10,000 employees. The company says it will increase the number of shipments week after week, but until then, some healthcare workers will just have to wait for their doses.
However, there is a bit of good news. The FDA issued a statement late last night confirming that the vials containing the Pfizer vaccine come with additional doses, which could increase the nation’s supply by up to 40%. If you’re waiting for your first dose of the drug, you may not have to wait as long as you thought.
Fetiya Omer, a pharmacist, administers a COVID-19 vaccine to a health care worker at the University Of Washington Medical Center on December 15, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (David Ryder/Getty Images)
Starting next week, CVS and Walgreens will send teams of pharmacists to tens of thousands of long-term care facilities nationwide to inoculate people against COVID-19.
Pharmacists will also give the coronavirus vaccine to the general public once it s more widely available, making them a central part of the vaccine rollout, says Michael Hogue, who serves on a committee advising the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on the use of the vaccine. He is also president of the American Pharmacists Association.