Bay Area

State Launches COVID-19 Vaccine Outreach Campaign Targets African American Communities

State public health officials also plan to engage with Black communities across the state via small business and community leaders that primarily serve Black and African American residents.

Published

3 years ago

April 13, 2021

Mia Lane

Lucinda Bazile, deputy director of Lifelong Medical Care, gets vaccinated for COVID-19 at a Lifelong clinic on February 25, 2021. Photo courtesy of Lifelong Medical Care.

The state’s Department of Public Health has launched an advertising campaign intended to encourage the Black and African American communities to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
The campaign is part of the state’s “Let’s Get to ImmUnity” public education effort to encourage residents to get vaccinated.
The state is spending some $40 million in public outreach to preach the vaccines’ virtue via radio, print, social media, television, and billboard ads.
One ad targeting Black communities includes Darius, an East Palo Alto photographer, expressing concern about the vaccines’ safety.
   California Surgeon General Dr. Nadine Burke Harris, who is Black, responds to Darius by noting that she got vaccinated and ensured her parents also received shots after examining the data showing that the vaccines were found safe in clinical trials.
“I think people respond more to what we do than what we say,” Burke Harris said in the ad.
State public health officials also plan to engage with Black communities across the state via small business and community leaders that primarily serve Black and African American residents.
   The community engagement effort will begin in Oakland, according to the California Department of Public Health.
   “Data shows that COVID-19 disproportionately impacts Black and African American communities in terms of severity, mortality, and economics. These communities are also being vaccinated at disproportionately low rates,” CDPH Director and State Public Health Officer Dr. Tomas Aragon said. “We designed this campaign to speak to the understandable, culturally-specific concerns and questions surrounding the vaccine of Black and African American communities.”
The state is expected to open vaccine eligibility to all residents age 16 and over on April 15.
The CDPH’s ad with Darius and Burke Harris can be found at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HIGHn29MJr4.

Mia Lane

Posts by Mia Lane

Up Next

People Speak Out Against Hate Violence at Mill Valley Vigil

Don't Miss

PG&E to Continue Providing Robust Support Once COVID-19 Protections End in Late June

Mia Lane

Click to comment

Activism

Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

The printed Weekly Edition of the Oakland Post: Week of April 24 – 30, 2024

Published

1 day ago

April 26, 2024

Oakland Post

To enlarge your view of this issue, use the slider, magnifying glass icon or full page icon in the lower right corner of the browser window.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Alameda County

DA Pamela Price Stands by Mom Who Lost Son to Gun Violence in Oakland

Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018.

Published

5 days ago

April 22, 2024

Oakland Post

District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones

Publisher’s note: Last week, The Post published a photo showing Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price with Carol Jones, whose son, Patrick DeMarco Scott, was gunned down by an unknown assailant in 2018. The photo was too small for readers to see where the women were and what they were doing. Here we show Price and Jones as they complete a walk in memory of Scott. For more information and to contribute, please contact Carol Jones at 510-978-5517 at morefoundation.help@gmail.com. Courtesy photo.

Oakland Post

Posts by Oakland Post

Bay Area

State Controller Malia Cohen Keynote Speaker at S.F. Wealth Conference

California State Controller Malia Cohen delivered the keynote speech to over 50 business women at the Black Wealth Brunch held on March 28 at the War Memorial and Performing Arts Center at 301 Van Ness Ave. in San Francisco. The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

Published

7 days ago

April 20, 2024

Oakland Post

American Business Women’s Association Vice President Velma Landers, left, with California State Controller Malia Cohen (center), and ABWA President LaRonda Smith at the Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the ABWA at the Black Wealth Brunch.

By Carla Thomas

The Enterprising Women Networking SF Chapter of the American Business Women’s Association (ABWA) hosted the Green Room event to launch its platform designed to close the racial wealth gap in Black and Brown communities.

“Our goal is to educate Black and Brown families in the masses about financial wellness, wealth building, and how to protect and preserve wealth,” said ABWA San Francisco Chapter President LaRonda Smith.

ABWA’s mission is to bring together businesswomen of diverse occupations and provide opportunities for them to help themselves and others grow personally and professionally through leadership, education, networking support, and national recognition.

“This day is about recognizing influential women, hearing from an accomplished woman as our keynote speaker and allowing women to come together as powerful people,” said ABWA SF Chapter Vice President Velma Landers.

More than 60 attendees dined on the culinary delights of Chef Sharon Lee of The Spot catering, which included a full soul food brunch of skewered shrimp, chicken, blackened salmon, and mac and cheese.

Cohen discussed the many economic disparities women and people of color face. From pay equity to financial literacy, Cohen shared not only statistics, but was excited about a new solution in motion which entailed partnering with Californians for Financial Education.

“I want everyone to reach their full potential,” she said. “Just a few weeks ago in Sacramento, I partnered with an organization, Californians for Financial Education.

“We gathered 990 signatures and submitted it to the [California] Secretary of State to get an initiative on the ballot that guarantees personal finance courses for every public school kid in the state of California.

“Every California student deserves an equal opportunity to learn about filing taxes, interest rates, budgets, and understanding the impact of credit scores. The way we begin to do that is to teach it,” Cohen said.

By equipping students with information, Cohen hopes to close the financial wealth gap, and give everyone an opportunity to reach their full financial potential. “They have to first be equipped with the information and education is the key. Then all we need are opportunities to step into spaces and places of power.”

Cohen went on to share that in her own upbringing, she was not guided on financial principles that could jump start her finances. “Communities of color don’t have the same information and I don’t know about you, but I did not grow up listening to my parents discussing their assets, their investments, and diversifying their portfolio. This is the kind of nomenclature and language we are trying to introduce to our future generations so we can pivot from a life of poverty so we can pivot away and never return to poverty.”

Cohen urged audience members to pass the initiative on the November 2024 ballot.

“When we come together as women, uplift women, and support women, we all win. By networking and learning together, we can continue to build generational wealth,” said Landers. “Passing a powerful initiative will ensure the next generation of California students will be empowered to make more informed financial decisions, decisions that will last them a lifetime.”