COVID-19 VACCINE: A PEOPLE'S DIALOGUE Virtual Program Offered On April 1

We are living in unparalleled time with the roll out of vaccines to battle a deadly enemy - the COVID-19 virus. While the pandemic continues its grip, what might the long-term implications be for communities that choose or refuse to get vaccinated and what does -- and should -- that mean for all of us?

Join American Public Square at Jewell, the Center for Practical Bioethics, and the Health Forward Foundation hosting a virtual people's dialogue on Thursday, April 1 at 6 p.m. This program will explore the public's perspective about Covid-19 vaccines and how they may impact their lives and livelihoods. This program will be via Zoom webinar. To register, please visit www.americanpublicsquare.org.

This is the third in the Center for Practical Bioethics' four-part Ethics of Vaccine Allocation and Distribution Webinar Series. A panel of experts will explore the regional issues on logistics, resistance and justice in the equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines. How should we understand the long-term implications that could be felt by communities who choose or refuse to get vaccinated, and what does that mean for ALL of us?

The panel will be moderated by Erika Blacksher, Ph.D., the John B. Francis Chair for the Center for Practical Bioethics. Blacksher studies ethical and policy questions raised by health inequalities in the United States. Her current work focuses on issues of justice raised by white mortality trends, related roles of early life adversity and whiteness, and deliberative democratic engagement as a tool for advancing health and social equity via developing population policy and civic connection.

"Vaccine rollout has been hampered not only by supply chain issues that have impeded access for those who want it, but also by considerable vaccine hesitancy and resistance," Blacksher said.

"It's not surprising. This pandemic has been politicized and mired in mixed messages. People have questions...Is it safe, is it effective, is it necessary? The upcoming panel, 'A People's Dialogue', will explore how people are thinking about the vaccine in a diverse range of communities and what they are doing to address the challenges," she said.

Panelists for the program include:

• D. Rashaan Gilmore, founder and president/CEO of BlaqOut of Kansas City

• Andrea Perdomo-Morales, MSW, Chief Program Officer of Vibrant Health of Wyandotte County and a native of Guatemala

• Toriann Richard, CEO of the Health Care Collaborative of Rural Missouri

"APS is pleased to partner with the Center for Bioethics and the Health Forward Foundation in bringing the people's voice to this discussion about the COVID-19 vaccine," said Claire Bishop, APS Executive Director. "With so much information and so many questions swirling around the rollout of vaccine in our area, we feel it is important to provide a forum for discussion about this very timely issue."

For more information about this or any of APS programs, please visit www.americanpublicsquare.org.