Equity and Expeditious Distribution of COVID-19 Vaccine Program
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and a coalition of groups today issued a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar calling for a fair and equitable federal vaccination program. The current federal distribution program still remains focused on a misguided distribution plan which ignores Black, Brown, Asian and poor communities. Under the leadership of Governor Cuomo, New York has fought to modify the plan to engage community and faith-based leaders to instill confidence in the vaccine, and assist with its distribution to these historically underserved communities.
"As we approach the start of the COVID-19 vaccination program, I continue to urge the federal government to amend their plans to include equitable distribution in the communities hardest hit by the pandemic," Governor Cuomo said. "Black, Hispanic, Asian and low-income communities paid the highest price during COVID-19. Historically underserved by healthcare institutions, it is up to the federal government to rectify their program to focus on providing these communities with the highest quality care and access to the vaccine. With the first round of vaccines being distributed as soon as next week, there is no time to waste. I urge the administration to act and provide solutions quickly."
The full text of the letter is below:
December 10, 2020
Dear Secretary Azar:
We stand together in expressing serious concern with the Trump administration's vaccine distribution plan. While we are encouraged by recent reports regarding the vaccines' efficacy, there is urgent work to be done to ensure vaccination efforts are both expeditious and fair.
Governors need federal funding in order to execute comprehensive distribution plans to guarantee that all communities have access to the vaccine. The Association of State and Territorial Health Officials estimates that a comprehensive vaccine distribution program would cost approximately $8 billion. To date, the Trump Administration has administered a mere $200 million to the states.
Without adequate funding, distribution will not be equitable. COVID-19 has laid bare chronic health disparities in our country that led communities of color to suffer disproportionately from this virus. Communities of color disproportionately suffer from pre-existing conditions, such as asthma, obesity and hypertension, that compound the harm the virus can cause -- Black Americans died at twice the rate of white Americans due to COVID, and Latinos died at one and a half times the rate of whites. The underlying reality is that communities of color lack access to healthcare institutions and services. But in its current form, the Trump Administration's vaccine plan relies on private health facilities that have historically excluded Black and brown communities. By relying on a flawed, biased system, the administration's approach will only serve to further widen existing disparities in health outcomes.
The essential workers who carried this nation through the worst of this pandemic are predominately people of color. They especially deserve a national vaccine plan designed to ensure they are protected.
Marc Morial, undersigned and the President and CEO of the National Urban League, has said the Trump Administration's plan is, "thoughtless, careless and needs to be taken back to the drawing board." Derrick Johnson, undersigned and President and CEO of the NAACP, has said that, "any introduction of a vaccine plan devoid of the infrastructure we know is effective within the Black community reinforces the same incompetence that has affected far too many communities that have been neglected in the midst of this global pandemic." The Reverend Al Sharpton, undersigned and the President and Founder of National Action Network said, "I've seen this movie before. Many Black Americans live in healthcare deserts, where there are no hospitals or healthcare centers in our area. This has hurt us badly during the COVID crisis. This unfair treatment is about to happen again. I don't see how we will see equal distribution of the vaccine based on the federal plan. That must be fixed immediately."
The Black and brown communities that were first on the list of who died from COVID cannot be last on the list of who receives the vaccine. Our federal government needs to stand up and deliver a world-class vaccination program that quickly and comprehensively reaches underserved communities of color. The private market alone is incapable. We need to enlist faith-based organizations, neighborhood groups and local non-profits with deep roots in Black, brown and poor communities to get this done. And we need the funding to do so.
This pandemic cannot end, and our country will not truly be safe, until everyone has access to a vaccine. The Trump Administration must implement a national vaccine plan that does not leave any community behind, and it must do so now. Time is short. We stand prepared to work with your team and the federal government to execute a vaccination program worthy of these United States.
Sincerely,
Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Derrick Johnson President & CEO NAACP
Marc Morial President & CEO National Urban League
Reverend Al Sharpton President & Founder National Action Network
Wilbur Aldridge Mid Hudson/Westchester Regional Director NAACP New York State Conference
Kevin W. Alexander President & CEO Rockaway Development & Revitalization Corporation
Gregory Anderson President & CEO Bridge Street Development Corporation
Phillip Andrews President Long Island African American Chamber of Commerce, Inc.
Bishop Dr. Roger Ball Founding Pastor Family Worship Center
Mark Barbee International Representative UAW Region 9
Daniel Barber CCOP President NYCHA Citywide Council of Presidents
Thomas Beauford, Jr. President & CEO Buffalo Urban League
Reverend Dr. A. R. Bernard Senior Pastor Christian Cultural Center
Twiggy Billue President National Action Network Syracuse Chapter
Reverend Mark E. Blue President Buffalo Branch NAACP
Kyle Bragg President 32BJ SEIU
Bishop Victor A. Brown Senior Pastor Mount Sinai United Christian Church, Inc.
Linda Brown-Robinson President Syracuse Onondaga NAACP
Reverend Dr. Calvin O. Butts Senior Pastor Abyssinian Baptist Church
Joy D. Calloway Interim CEO Planned Parenthood of Greater New York
Reverend Dr. Demetrius S. Carolina, Sr. Pastor & Executive Director First Central Baptist Church, The Central Family Life Center
Robin Chappelle Golston President & CEO Planned Parenthood Empire State Acts
Dr. Isma H. Chaudhry Chair, Board of Trustees Islamic Center of Long Island
Dr. Linda Clark President & Co-Founder Black Physicians Network of Greater Rochester
Bishop Dr. Ismael Claudio Senior Pastor Pentecostal Church of Jesus Christ, Inc.
Claudia Coger Tenant Association President Astoria Houses
Annie Cotton-Morris Queens District Chair NYCHA
Reverend Charles A. Coverdale Senior Pastor First Baptist Church of Riverhead
Shirley E. Coverdale President & CEO Family Community Life Center, Inc.
Reverend Dr. Phil Craig Pastor The Greater Springfield Community Church
Robert Darby President Bakery Confectionary Tobacco Workers & Grain Millers Local 36G
Reverend Troy DeCohen President United Black Clergy of Westchester
Walter Dixie Executive Director Jubilee Homes of Syracuse, Inc.
George R. Dixon President NAACP Corona East Elmhurst Chapter
Jacob Dixon CEO Choice for All
Hazel Dukes President NAACP New York State Conference
Tracey Edwards Long Island Regional Director NAACP New York State Conference
Archbishop Eric Figueroa, Sr. Sentior Pastor, New Life Tabernacle Metropolitan Archbishop of New Life Covenant Archdiocese
Bishop Orlando Findlayter Senior Pastor New Hope Christian Fellowship
Reverend Dr. Elaine Flake Co-Pastor Greater Allen AME Cathedral
Reverend Dr. Floyd Flake Senior Pastor Greater Allen AME Cathedral
Richard Flateau Chairperson Brooklyn Community Planning Board #3
Gregory Floyd President, Teamsters Local 237 Vice President-At Large, International Brotherhood of Teamsters General Board
Pastor James Giles President & CEO Back To Basics Outreach Ministries, Inc.
Reverend Dr. Johnnie Green Senior Pastor Mount Neboh Baptist Church
George Gresham President 1199SEIU United Healthcare Workers East
Elaine Gross Founder & President ERASE Racism
Dr. Janice Harbin President & CEO Anthony Jordan Medical Center
Bishop Lionel Harvey Senior Pastor/Teacher, First Baptist Cathedral of Westbury Presiding Bishop, Sword of the Spirit Christian Fellowship, Inc.
Mark Henry President Amalgamated Transit Local #1056
Nicky Hylton-Patterson Executive Director Adirondack Diversity Initiative
Reverend Daren C. Jaime Pastor People's African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church
Reverend Larry Jennings, Sr. President NAACP Huntington Branch
Dr. Berenecea Johnson-Eanes President York College
Bishop George Max Jones Senior Pastor Apostolic Church of Jesus Christ, Syracuse
Dominique Jones Executive Director Boys & Girls Club of Harlem
Vira Lynn Jones Executive Director Bedford Stuyvesant Museum of African Art
Jennifer Jones Austin CEO & Executive Director Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies
Hope Knight President & CEO Greater Jamaica Development Corporation
Imam Dr. Tahir Kukiqi Vice President Albanian Islamic Cultural Center
Reverend Dr. Adolphus Lacey Senior Pastor Bethany Baptist Church
Maggie Larkins Community Leader Far Rockaway
H. Carl McCall Chairman Emeritus State University of New York
Wendy McClinton President & CEO Black Veterans for Social Justice, Inc.
Bishop Isaac Melton Christian Light Missionary Baptist Church of Long Beach
Terrence L. Melvin Secretary-Treasurer New York State AFL-CIO
Reverend Greg Merriweather Pastor Calvary Baptist Church
William King Moss III President NAACP Islip Town Branch
Reverend Dr. Les Mullings Senior Pastor Community Church of the Nazarene, Far Rockaway
Jacqueline Nelson President NAACP Rome NY
Wade Norwood CEO Common Ground Health
Dr. Philip Ozuah President & CEO Montefiore Medical Center
Angelica Perez-Delgado President & CEO Ibero American Action League
Marques Phillips Director of City Initiatives City of Utica
Reverend Gilbert Pickett, Sr. Senior Pastor, Mount Horeb Baptist Church Moderator, Eastern Baptist Association of New York, Inc.
Mimi Pierre Johnson President & CEO Elmont Cultural Center
Barbara Powell President NAACP Hempstead Branch
Dr. Frances E. Pratt President Nyack Branch NAACP
Candace Prince-Modeste President NAACP Jamaica Branch
Charles Rangel Former Congressman New York 13th Congressional District
Jawwaad Rasheed President Mohawk Valley Frontiers
Arva Rice President & CEO New York Urban League
Bishop Calvin Rice Senior Pastor New Jerusalem Worship Center
Reverend Dr. W. Franklyn Richardson Senior Pastor, Grace Baptist Church Chairman, National Action Network
Crystal Rodriguez-Dabney Chief of Staff & Chief Diversity Officer Buffalo State, State University of New York
Me'Shae Rolling Executive Director Upstate Minority Economic Alliance
Steven Rubenstein Chairman Association for a Better New York
Davon Russell President WHEDCo
Theresa Sanders President & CEO Urban League of Long Island
Dr. Claudia V. Schrader President Kingsborough Community College
Clifford Scott Executive Director Niagara Falls Housing Authority
Larry Scott Blackmon New York Association of Chapters of Alpha Fraternity, Inc. 100 Black Men
Iesha Sekou CEO & Founder Street Corner Resources
William Simmons Executive Director Syracuse Housing Authority
April Simpson Former Tenant Association President Queensbridge Houses
Joanne N. Smith President & CEO Girls for Gender Equity
Dr. Ty Stone President Jefferson Community College
Lawrence Street President NAACP Eastern Long Island Branch
Farah Tanis Co-Executive Director Black Women's BluePrint
Reverend Dr. Elgin Joseph Taylor Vice President At-Large Empire Baptist Missionary Convention of NY, Inc.
Bishop Mitchell Taylor CEO Urban Upbound
William C. Thompson, Jr. Chairman CUNY Board of Trustees
Djounedou Titikpina President African People Alliance, Inc.
Pastor David Traynham Chairman & Executive Director ALERT Partnership, Inc.
Steven Tucker President & CEO Northland Workforce Traning Center
Reverend Dr. Carl Washington, Jr. Convention President Empire Baptist Missionary Convention of NY, Inc.
Carol Wilkins Resident Association President Ravenswood Houses
Tamika Williams-Moore Tenant Association President Pomonok Houses
Imam Abdul-Rahman Yaki Islamic Center of the Capital District
Reverend Patrick H. Young Pastor First Baptist Church of Corona
Rahsmia Zatar Executive Director STRONG Youth
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