Bobby Rush Virtual Panel Focuses On COVID Vaccine Hesitancy

CHICAGO — U.S. Rep. Bobby Rush (IL-01) has convened a virtual panel of local public health experts to answer questions and address concerns about the COVID -19 vaccine. The panel will go live at 6 p.m. CT, Thursday, April 22. Prior to convening the panel, Rush will tour Chicago State University’s new mass vaccination site.

The discussion will be livestreamed on Rush’s Facebook and YouTube pages. Joining Rush is Dr. George Smith. Featured panelists include:

• Dr. Amaal Tokars, assistant director, Illinois Department of Public Health
• Dr. Daria Terrell, director of Clinical Programming and Health Outcomes, St. Bernard Hospital
• Julie-Ann Collins, nurse practitioner, Friend Health

All Illinois residents age 16 and over are now eligible for a COVID-19 vaccine. However, countering vaccine hesitancy remains a serious challenge. A recent poll released by the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 13 percent of adults would “definitely not” get the vaccine, an additional 7 percent would get it “only if required,” and 17 percent of adults would “wait and see” once the vaccine was available to them. Twenty-four percent of Black adults said they would “wait and see,” making them one of the most likely groups to give this response. Experts agree that in order to reach herd immunity, between 70 percent and 90 percent of the population must be vaccinated.