b'HEALTHVaccinating Our CommunityO nSaturdayFebruary13thNewHopeBaptistthat racial disparities in health outcomes are driventhe guidelines for the State of Colorados Vaccination Church,aspartofaninitiativetovaccinateby social determinants such as neighborhood condi- program.In these unprecedented times, the African elderly members (age 65 and older) of underservedtions,educationalattainment,economicstability,American medical community was able to meet the communitiesandracialminoritiesinthegreaterhealthcare access, and social contexts.Current datachallenge of health initiative of unprecedented scale Denver area, hosted a COVID-19 vaccination event.shows that African Americans have received only 4%in the midst of a pandemic.TheMileHighMedicalSocietyandtheColoradoof the distributed vaccinations, despite being nearlyOnMarch6th,theseconddoseofthePfizer BlackHealthCollaborativepartneredwiththe12% of the U.S. population, according to the CDC. vaccinewillbeadministeredatNewHopeBaptist church to help plan, recruit participants, and pro- Thiseventwasparticularlyremarkable,consid- Church.Although this will be the final dose of the vide volunteers for the event. University of ColoradoeringtheuniquechallengesintheBlackcommu- vaccine, efforts will continue to achieve the goals of Health Science Center was the sponsoring agency. nity. African American communities have historicallyreaching herd immunity by vaccinating 70% of the Vaccineswereadministeredsuccessfullyto685been understandably leery of healthcare initiativesAfricanAmericanpopulationbyDecember2021. mostly African American, as well as Hispanic/Latinxand of the greater healthcare system.This has ledMile High Medical Society plans to keep the commu-members of the community, who braved frigid tem- to vaccine hesitancy that has to be overcome in ordernity informed about the ongoing changes and trends peratures and icy roads to receive the first shot ofto gain the trust of African Americans and allow forrelated to the healthcare response to the COVID-19. thePfizerCOVID-19Vaccine.Trainedvolunteersvaccination. This initiative will help decrease COVID- God-willing, we will be able to restore a sense of nor-fromtheUCHealthsystemadministeredshotsat19 morbidity and mortality in the African Americanmalcy in this community, and in our lives.five vaccine stations in the New Hope Baptist Churchcommunity.https://milehighmedicalsociety.orgFamily Life Center. Dr. Johnny E. Johnson, PresidentNewHopeBaptistChurchsvaccinedistribution of Mile High Medical Society, presided over the event,marks the largest effort in Colorado to and provided medical expertise to patients.Dr. Terrivaccinate African Americans through RichardsonwastheleadColoradoBlackHealththeAfricanAmericanChurchcom-Collaborative volunteer. munity. This marks the first time The distribution of a large number of vaccinationsthattheAfricanAmericancom-marks a successful effort to provide vaccinations tomunity,throughNewHopeBaptist the African American community, which is at par- Church,wasgiventheopportunity ticularlyhighriskforcontractinganddyingfromtodirectamajorhealthinitiative the COVID-19 virus, compared to White and Asianfrom its administration to its comple-populations.TheCOVIDRacialDataTracker,ation.Volunteers from the Mile High collaborationbetweentheCOVIDTrackingProjectMedicalSocietyandtheColorado andtheBostonUniversityCenterforAntiracistBlack Health Collaborative worked in Research,haspooledtogetherraceandethnicityconjunction with members of the New data on COVID-19, that shows as of February 17,Hope Baptist Church to organize the 2021, nationwide African Americans have died at 1.4massvaccinationevent,byscreen-times the rate of White Americans.The CDC reportsingincomingpatientsaccordingto 14 MARCH 2021 BOCNEWS.com'