By: Alyssa Wilson

COVID-19 data is no longer trending downward and the CDC wants states to slow down on their reopening plans, despite not prioritizing minority communities in their vaccination plans. 

Cases remain at very high levels, and #COVID19 variants are a very real threat to our progress. Now is not the time to relax the critical safeguards that we know can #StopTheSpread of COVID-19 in our communities and prevent another surge in cases. https://t.co/uGOhDUGFje

— Rochelle Walensky, MD, MPH (@CDCDirector) March 1, 2021

Critical care physician Dr. Ebony Jade Hilton joined BNC’s Start Your Day to talk about the need to include minorities higher up in vaccination plans. 

The Johnson & Johnson single-dose vaccine was granted emergency-use authorization, but the national average of vaccinations remains low. 

“Until we reach this critical mass of people that are vaccinated, we just can’t rush the process,” Hilton said. 

She said the approval of the newest vaccine was critical but vaccinations are primarily going to white Americans. 

“We need to get our racial minority groups involved in that vaccination process because we are the essential workers and that’s how this virus allows itself to spread,” Hilton said. 

When asked about how to get vaccination numbers up in the Black communities, she said it’s all about the vaccination requirements. 

According to Hilton, vaccination plans prioritized healthcare workers and nursing home residents first; There are more white doctors and most nursing home residents are white, according to data.

While talking about Trump’s failure to accurately respond to the pandemic, Hilton said it cost lives and the nation will deal with collateral damage. 

“There’s a lot of things we are going to have to unpack within these next five to 10 years as to exactly what does COVID due and how do we repair the consequences of that infection,” she said. 

According to the CDC, serious long-term implications of COVID-19 can impact the body’s organ systems. 

For more of BNC’s coronavirus coverage, click here.