In partnership, Hunger Free NYC, CUNY Graduate School of Public Health & Health Policy, National Black Leadership Commission on Health is hosting this webinar to provide a safe space for pregnant, breastfeeding, postpartum parents to have an open, honest conversation with trusted sources regarding the COVID-19 vaccines.
Chelsea Clinton will moderate this virtual webinar. Among the panelists, Dr. Ayman El- Mohandes, Dean of CUNY SPH, will speak with expertise as a pediatrician, with other speakers in obestetrics and gynecology, health communication, and community health work to be confirmed.
Community-based outreach for the COVID-19 vaccine continues to be an essential tool in making sure all people get vaccinated. Pregnant people remain one of the lowest vaccinated groups of individuals, with only 33 percent of pregnant people fully vaccinated as of October 2. Pregnant people of color have even lower rates of vaccination, with 28 percent of Hispanic pregnant people and only 17.4 percent of Black pregnant individuals vaccinated.
Dispelling myths about the COVID-19 vaccination and its impact on pregnancy is crucial to getting more people vaccinated, decreasing rates of coronavirus, and ensuring the safety of communities. New studies show that pregnant women who contract COVID-19 and have symptoms face risks of emergency complications with their pregnancies, while new data from the Centers for Disease Control show that the vaccine is safe for pregnant women and does not increase risk of miscarriage.
The organizations hosting the webinar are conducting COVID–19 vaccine outreach in New York City as part of a grant issued by the U.S. Department of Health. The New York Vaccine Literacy Campaign is supported by the New York Community Trust, the Altman Foundation, and the New York State Health Foundation.
Camille A. Clare, MD, MPH, CPE, FACOG Camille A. Clare, MD, MPH, CPE, FACOG is a board-certified obstetrician and gynecologist. She received her medical degree from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, New York, and completed her obstetrics and gynecology residency at the State University of New York at Buffalo. She obtained a Master of Public Health in Health Policy and Management at New York Medical College. Dr. Clare previously served as the Associate Dean of Diversity and Inclusion at New York Medical College and attending physician at New York City Health + Hospitals/Metropolitan. She received numerous teaching awards from the New York Medical College Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology for medical student and resident teaching, consecutively for the past seven years, and in 2012, received the Association of Professors of Gynecology and Obstetrics Excellence in Teaching award.
Dr. El-Mohandes, Dean of the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH) & Pediatrician Dr. Ayman El-Mohandes, Dean of the City University of New York Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy (CUNY SPH), is a pediatrician and public health academic with a deep commitment to public service. He is an established researcher in the field of infant mortality reduction in minority populations. Dr. El-Mohandes’ funded research focuses on population-based interventions in underserved communities both locally and globally. His publication record includes innovative approaches towards improving perinatal and neonatal outcomes in high-risk populations. Dr. El-Mohandes has been actively engaged in the response to Covid-19 here in New York City and around the world. Since the pandemic first struck in March 2020, his CUNY SPH team has been monitoring the experiences and perspectives of NYC residents through an ongoing tracking survey. He is also collaborating with an international consortium to assess and respond to Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy worldwide.
Aisha Langford, PhD, MPH @Population Health at NYU Langone Health Broadly, Dr. Langford’s research explores how health communication can improve individual decision making and reduce population health disparities for conditions or behaviors that lead to preventable mortality and morbidity. Historically, she has done work in cancer prevention and minority clinical trial participation in community-based settings. Her current work has expanded to include cardiovascular disease broadly, with a particular interest in hypertension-related decision making and patient-physician communication. During the pandemic, she has been actively involved in communications about COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial opportunities and education about the various COVID-19 vaccines. Dr. Langford earned her BA in English from the University of Virginia, MPH in Behavioral Science from Saint Louis University, and PhD in Health Behavior and Health Education from the University of Michigan.
Lily Dosina, WIC Program Manager @Hunger Free NYC Lily was born and raised in Cuba and obtained her B.A. in Media and Communications at the Higher Institute of Arts, University of the Arts in Cuba. She worked at the National Museum of Fine Arts and at the Ludwig Foundation of Cuba, which is one of the few NGOs on the island and was created with the mission of protecting and promoting Cuban artists domestically and internationally. In the U.S., she previously worked at Optimize Today’s Wellness Therapy Solutions, Inc., Hunger Free Vermont, and at the WIC Program in New Jersey. Lily and her team work daily to raise awareness about WIC for eligible low-income women, infants, and children. She started Hunger Free America’s WIC Help NY Hunger Solutions pilot program which was focused on Staten Island (Richmond County). Due to the success of this intervention and the support from different organizations, HFA has been able to expand their services to the rest of NYC boroughs.
