National

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.

While the CDC said there should be enough doses for as many as 20 million people to receive vaccination by the end of December, health officials expect a much larger supply in the coming months. Still, with a justified distrust of unproven vaccines, and a perceived limited participation by African Americans in clinical the trials that lead to the development of the COVID-19 vaccine, many question whether African Americans will accept vaccination.

"Because there's no control over pricing in the United States, they can basically charge what they want to; whereas in other countries, the government decides."

Christy DeGallerie noticed a startling trend in her online group for coronavirus survivors: White patients got medications she'd never heard of, were offered X-rays and their doctors listened to their concerns.

An Indian pharmaceutical company is recalling some metformin tablets because they may contain higher-than-normal levels of a carcinogen.

The Black Church PAC has urged the presidents of Dillard University and Xavier University of Louisiana, both historically Black colleges, to refrain from offering their students up as guinea pigs for controversial and untested coronavirus vaccine trials.