Vanderbilt To Host Virtual Event To Address Vaccine Hesitancy

By Anita Wadhwani, Tennessee Lookout

August 9, 2021

Vanderbilt University Medical Center and the Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy will host a virtual event August 18 at noon to “offer evidence-based context and perspective to de-escalate current heated rhetoric and dispel commonly held misunderstandings about vaccine development and efficacy.

Panelist for the event, Vaccine Hesitancy: the Politics of Public Health in Tennessee, include Dr. Alex Jahangir, a surgeon at Vanderbilt University Medical Center who is also the head of the Metro Nashville Coronavirus Task Force; Paul Mango, former deputy chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and manager of Operation Warp Speed during the Trump administration; and former U.S. Congressman Dr. Phil Roe, a Republican from East Tennessee.

“It is vital that we convene these conversations to elevate evidence on the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines and promote healthier communities in Tennessee and across the country,” said Gray Sasser, executive director of The Vanderbilt Project on Unity and American Democracy, founded “to give policymakers and the public the tools needed to combat conspiracy and unfounded ideology with evidence, data and respectful discourse.”

Register for the event here.

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