Health Disparity News & Research
State of Utah Black Affairs Summit

BPOU Addressing Facts and Myths for COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy in the Black Community.
Dr. Richard Ferguson and Dr. Samuel Cheshier discussed what the Black/African American experience has been like during the COVID-19 pandemic, how someone’s occupation or profession may have determined the kind of experience they had during the COVID-19 pandemic, the data on vaccinations when it’s broken down by race and ethnicity, what are some of the reasons for vaccine hesitancy, how historical exploitation play a role in how vaccines are viewed, proposed solutions to increase vaccination rates, and how they’ll implement these strategies in the community.

Blackface in White Space: Using Admissions to Address Racism in Medical Education
The “White Space” in medicine is created by having a large amount of white people and an extreme lack of diversity in the medical environment. Altering the admissions process along with diversifying the staff can help to address the systemic racism that plagues the health care system.

Culture Matters in Communicating the Global Response to COVID-19
Communications regarding treatment and severity of Covid-19 are not geared towards black/brown communities and cultures. This creates a lack of knowledge and lack of engagement in these communities making them less likely to seek appropriate treatment as well as understanding the disease as a whole.