National

“While the Affordable Care Act has greatly reduced the number of older adults who are uninsured, coverage has remained unaffordable for far too many people aged 50-64, including many from multicultural communities,” said Edna Kane-Williams, Chief Diversity Officer of AARP.

Georgia lawmakers’ restrictive and oppressive new voter laws may cost the team and city the privilege of hosting Major League Baseball’s summer showcase. It may also cost the local economy more than $200 million. Major League Baseball’s Players’ Association plans to meet with its 750-plus members to decide whether to force the game to another location.

“We know that before the passage of the ACA, people of color accounted for 54 percent of the uninsured in the United States, even though they only make up 35 percent of the population. Black women and other women of color — who already face systemic barriers to accessing health care — were disproportionately impacted,” Howell determined.

“COVID-19 has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans, and if adequate steps are not taken, this number will continue to grow. As we have seen, COVID-19 does not discriminate, it does not respect borders, and it does not behave according to our timelines,” said Dr. James Hildreth.

The United States could start letting the general public have access to Covid-19 vaccines in April, and the country may be able to inoculate most Americans by the middle or end of the summer, Dr. Anthony Fauci said Thursday.

The extreme prices contribute to serious complications and death when people have to ration their life-saving drugs because they can’t afford to take them as prescribed. Many have failed to take the medicines at all because they simply don’t have the money to pay for them.

The president said he’s doing what his predecessor failed to do. The coordinated national plan is detailed in a 198-page document. In marked contrast to the prior administration, Biden said the plan he unveiled will be steeped in science. He invoked the Defense Production Act to ensure that there are adequate supplies, and he intends to increase production by working closely with manufacturers. Included in the provisions are plans to develop 100 federal vaccination centers; open a number of mobile vaccination centers, particularly in rural areas; use pharmacies in diverse communities to vaccinate residents; implement a 100-day mask mandate; and vaccinate 100 million Americans in the first 100 days of his presidency.

The rollout of the medicine from Pfizer and Moderna featured heavy promotion. High-profile African Americans like former President Barack Obama, National Newspaper Publishers Association (NNPA) Coronavirus Task Force Member Dr. Ebony Hilton, and the Rev. Jesse Jackson received their shots publicly.

“The very vaccine that’s one of the two that has absolutely exquisite levels – 94 to 95 percent efficacy against clinical disease and almost 100 percent efficacy against serious disease that are shown to be clearly safe – that vaccine was actually developed in my institute’s vaccine research center by a team of scientists led by Dr. Barney Graham and his close colleague, Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, or Kizzy Corbett,” Dr. Fauci stated.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s foremost infectious disease physician, also championed the work of Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, an African American scientist, whom Dr. Fauci said was at the forefront of the development of the vaccine. “So, the first thing you might want to say to my African American brothers and sisters is that the vaccine that you’re going to be taking was developed by an African American woman. And that is just a fact,” Dr. Fauci remarked.