From vaccine hesitancy to vaccine equity

Starting a short week with some advice from Dr. Michelle on how to tackle vaccine hesitancy among minority communities, as well as a closer look at the economic impact of America’s food and ag sector. (769 words, 3 minutes, 50 seconds)

It’s Spring, and like a lot of our readers, Good Day BIO is taking a quick Spring break. Starting Thursday, April 1, we'll be on hiatus for a week—so not too long. Publication will resume on Thursday, April 8. We hope you are also able to enjoy the transition to warmer weather. And stay safe!

Why achieving vaccine equity requires tackling vaccine hesitancy

The good news: 1/3 of American adults have received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. The bad: Black neighborhoods, including here in D.C., lag behind in vaccinations—despite the fact that Black Americans are dying at nearly twice the rate of White Americans from the coronavirus.

In an op-ed for The Washington Post, BIO’s Dr. Michelle McMurry-Heath and Grapevine Health’s Lisa K. Fitzpatrick explain what we need to do to achieve vaccine equity.

“In the nation’s capital, about 75 percent of coronavirus deaths are among Black Americans—despite making up less than half of the population,” they write. “So, it’s particularly troubling that 44 percent of Black D.C. residents say they won’t get vaccinated.”

What’s driving this hesitancy? “[T]he most common two reasons given are worries about side effects and a desire to see how other people respond to the vaccine.”

“The reality is that the vaccines have been thoroughly tested, shown to be safe and are virtually 100 percent effective at preventing deaths and hospitalizations”—and we need a “nationwide educational outreach effort to convey that message,” they explain.

Here are three things they say the message should focus on:

“[M]illions of Americans have already been vaccinated with positive results.”
“[S]afety is a priority throughout every stage of the vaccine development process, from research and testing to regulatory approvals. Even after a vaccine is widely available, scientists continuously monitor for any potential side effects.”
The Moderna, Pfizer, and Johnson & Johnson vaccine clinical trials had diverse participation, with minority communities making up more than 35% of U.S. clinical trial participants for these vaccines.

The bottom line: “Achieving equity in coronavirus outcomes requires broad vaccine acceptance within the Black community,” they conclude. “That starts with getting the facts into trusted hands within Black communities.”

Read and share the whole thing.

Do you have questions about the COVID-19 vaccines? Visit www.COVIDVaccineFacts.org to get the answers.

How important is ag to the economy?

Molecular biologist Dr. Elizabeth Helen Blackburn won a Nobel for the discovery of telomerase, providing insight into “the puzzle of cellular division and DNA replication.”

Her research has focused on the telomere, the structure at the end of the chromosome that protects the chromosome. While working at UC-Berkeley in 1984, Dr. Blackburn and her student Carol Greider discovered telomerase, the enzyme that “lengthens each strand of DNA before the copying stage, compensating for the shortening during cell division.” She received 1/3 share of the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this discovery, making her the first Australian woman Nobel laureate.

Her research has led to many medical breakthroughs related to cancer, stress, and aging. Notably, she found that chronic stress causes telomeres to shorten, prematurely aging cells. She continues to ask questions about the health impacts of stress—from everyday work stress to more severe stressors like poverty, war, and abuse—and the role of policy in mitigating it.

Dr. Blackburn is the former president of the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, the research institute founded by Dr. Jonas Salk, who developed the first polio vaccine.

BIO Beltway Report