Community Corner
Brookline Group To Host COVID Vaccine Q&A Panel
The panel discussion aims to address the science, psychology, the decision and rollout to help answer questions surrounding the vaccine.
BROOKLINE, MA — As the coronavirus vaccine rollout continues across the state and in Brookline, there are still many people who aren't sure they want to get the vaccine and question its safety.
More than one-in-five Massachusetts residents said they weren't likely to get a COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them, according to a poll put out earlier this month by UMass Amherst and WCVB. The main reason? They didn't trust the vaccine or the process.
Several people who are members of Brookline for Racial Justice and Equity knew there were people in Brookline, too, who were worried about the vaccine.
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In response, Brookline Housing Residents of color Paloma Vas, Adeniya Ijanusi and Kimberley Richardson —who was not planning to get the vaccine, but changed her mind— reached out to the Brookline for Racial Justice and Equity and together a panel of three experts from the area to address questions and concerns about the vaccine.
"We were hearing some reluctance and fear from residents about the vaccine," said Abby Erdman of the BRJE coalition. "So we thought a panel might address those concerns."
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The panel, the group said, is a chance for people on the fence and those who are nervous about the vaccine to get their questions answered by people who know and understand the issues.
On the panel:
Dr. Mary Bassett, a physician, a former Health Commissioner for NYC, and director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard, where she works with the epidemiologist and
Dr. Natalia Linos, the executive director of the FXB Center for Health and Human Rights. They both serve on the Poor People’s Campaign COVID-19 Health Justice Advisory Committee.
Dr. Irving Allen graduated from the Boston University School of Medicine in 1965. He worked in Brookline and has had 56 years of experience. He specializes in psychiatry.
The COVID Vaccine Panel: Your Questions Answered: The Science, the Psychology, the Decision, the Rollout in Brookline is set for 7 p.m. April 5. http://bit.ly/vaccine101
The panel discussion will be streamed online at Brookline Interactive Group:
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