 As the Delta variant continues to be a primary source of conversation in the global community on the coronavirus pandemic response, we are privileged to have with us one of the leading Black voices in the effort to ensure equity and access to more information and vaccinations for Black communities. Dr. Cameron Webb, he is the proudest possible in your county in Virginia and also a dear advocate working very closely with communities nationwide to ensure that folks have the facts and the right information to understand about responding to the coronavirus. Brother Webb, it is a pleasure to have you on today. Thanks so much for having me. Glad to be here. Let's talk first. So we hear so much about the Delta variant, right? And there's a lot to be concerned about, obviously, but in your experience from a global blue sky view, are there any instances where you've seen good progress or at least best practices, particularly in minority and underserved communities where you would say, hey, if everybody wants to get this right, here is a place or here are some places where you can look and see what they're doing. Well, you know, I'd start off just by saying the last couple of weeks, we've seen a real boost in the number of folks from communities of color in general, but specifically the Black community getting vaccinated. And I think there are a couple of reasons why. I think, you know, a big piece of the conversation has been, you know, folks feeling like they had enough information to feel like vaccines were safe and effective. And they've been contrasting that against, you know, the threat of the virus, but that threat itself has changed. And so this Delta variant has caused a lot of people to re-evaluate and come to the conclusion that, listen, my best course of action is to get vaccinated. So if you look at the last two weeks, over 15% of the vaccinations that have been administered have been to the Black community. And, you know, compare that with the percentage of population at 12.4%. We've actually seen the highest percentage of vaccine doses going to the Black community over the last two weeks than at any point in the vaccine campaign. And you look at, you know, in aggregate, you put that with the Brown community, with the Latino community as well, that's over a quarter of the vaccination. So really, over the last three months, we've seen that more than half of the vaccinations administered have been to communities of color. It's really a tremendous statistic when you think about it, that gains in vaccination rates. We still have a long way to go, but we've seen a lot of progress. And we're seeing that across the country. We know that historically Black institutions have been instrumental to the campaign and awareness building about vaccination and about awareness about the COVID virus itself. They were among the first to cease competition, to bring people off campus, to make sure that they were mitigating spread. They were among the first to have mask mandates. And the first to kind of, not quarantine, but kind of cordon off athletic competition. How important are institutions like HBCUs or colleges and universities, period, how important are they in spreading a message about the importance of vaccination, about the importance of understanding the variance of this virus? And how should they operate from your view? Because we know that it's kind of political in nature, but what can institutions do better or do more of to help some of these communities out? Well, and I'll start with saying it shouldn't be political in nature, even though it is, you know, my lens on HBCUs is a long one. Both my parents went to Southern University. My brother went to Hampton. My sister went to Howard. You know, I think a lot of family members have been a part of those spaces. And so I know very well that it's, you know, HBCUs have played a unique role in communities, both as a leader, as a driver of action, as an educator and as somebody who really has the community's best interest at heart. And this pandemic is no different. You know, early on in the Biden-Harris administration, I met with Dr. Wayne Frederick at Howard University. He convened the HBCU Leadership Forum. They shared their insights, their perspectives and their thoughts on what we could and should be doing better. We talked about how we can look to HBCUs for testing and ultimately for vaccination as well. And they've been such a key partner in this work. You know, just the other day, actually, the group of HBCU medical schools published an op-ed just yesterday in the Washington Post talking about how they were mandating vaccinations among their students as a mechanism to protect the future of Black physicians. I think that adding that voice to the conversation is what HBCUs have done so well. So in so many ways, leading by example, and I think that in communities where that trust factor is so critical, the trust is there with historical colleges and universities. I think they're using that trust in those relationships to advocate for the best interests of the community. Let's talk a little bit about the mandates you spoke of, because we know, you know, I think we both agree it should not be political. Most HBCUs are stationed in the South. You're from the South, so you kind of, you're very well aware of the culture and the politics involved. How can institutions work when so much of what matters in terms of the science and the data is separate and apart from what drives policy in reaction to those things? Are there things that institutions and communities can do when there are policies that kind of say no, do the opposite? Or is it at that point just a matter of individual choice and research and responsibility? Well, I think on this particular issue, this pandemic, you have to choose what your orientation is in terms of what your North Star is, what you're going to follow as you navigate this pandemic and unfolds. We've seen so many different moments in this pandemic where it feels like our foe is changing and we have to evolve our strategy along with it. And I think that for a lot of institutions, and I think this is what we're hearing from a lot of the leaders at HBCUs, you center yourself around this idea that I'm going to follow the science. If at every moment in this pandemic, you act in the best interest of the community based on the current best knowledge and information you have in terms of the science, then you're going to be all right because you will never have any regrets. You will always say, at that time, I did exactly what I knew was the best course of action. So you don't always feel confident in that. I think that's really one way that we're seeing these institutions leading is that they're looking to some really accomplished scholars and scientists and leaders and saying, hey, your interpretation of the science is going to guide us. And I think that that's a pretty reasonable North Star for folks to use, but it doesn't get rid of the dynamic, those realities that people have politicized the pandemic, that they've politicized public health. But what it does is it puts it in a different context. And there are a couple of truisms that I think people just need to continue to acknowledge. And one is that people are going to ask in their own best self-interest. And that looks a little bit different at different times. But when you have a variant of this virus that is impacting as many people as this Delta variant is doing, that says transmissible as this Delta variant is, people's self-interest has changed, especially when you put it in the context of the mounting evidence with 165 million folks vaccinated that these vaccines are safe and effective. I think it really changes the dynamics of what's in people's best interests. And I think the other piece of it is at the end of the day, I think people want to enjoy the things that they enjoy and they want to have the opportunity to be in those spaces. And so I think that for a lot of younger people, going to college is something they enjoy. They don't want to see their schools shut down. Again, there are folks entering their junior year of college who have yet to have a normal year of college. And so I think for so many, they're saying, listen, if it means I get a jab in my arm, I'll take it because I know it's safe. I know it's effective. And if it means that I can have a normal junior year of college, I'm here for it. And then the final question for brothers and sisters who are still on the fence. And I think you and I are in the same age group. I know I have friends and family who are still kind of like, I'm not sure I'm going to wait and see. You mentioned the fact that the variant is kind of pushing people towards like, all right, I'm going to go do it. I don't know if I feel good about it, but I'm going to go do it. Is there a message that you have found that resonates beyond people still getting sick? And then the other part of that is, do you think we have enough time for people to wait and see? You know, this thing continues to mutate. Is there enough time or is there a message that we can say, if you keep waiting, this may not get better. We may not naturally adapt to it. Medicine may not even catch up to it. Is there enough time for people to say, get off the fence? Well, you know what I usually tell folks, I'm a practicing internal medicine doctor. I tell patients and what I tell people in my own community is that the best time to get vaccinated, say with that Pfizer vaccine was five weeks ago, because that would mean you're fully protected today. Second best time is today, right? And the reason that is, is that you don't want to wait until there's a crisis in your community and you're surrounded by the Delta variant to say, I'm going to go get vaccinated because then it's going to take five weeks before you have that real protection. So I think that people are, they're reading the writing on the wall. They're seeing cases rising in communities all over the country. And they're saying, all right, I think this is the moment where the risk benefits certainly tilt to the direction of let me protect myself against this virus. What we know does harm is the virus. It's not the vaccine. And so I think the people are weighing those realities. It's not the same moment where we thought the virus was on its way out. Our cases were way down. They're rising again because of this Delta variant because not enough people had been vaccinated. So I think that that reality is going to continue to drive a lot more people. I think that just the experience of seeing your parents, your grandparents, your aunts, your uncles, your cousins, older individuals, if you're 40 plus, the likelihood that you've been vaccinated in the black community is way higher than if you're 18 to 29, for instance. And you're seeing those family members who've been vaccinated and they're no worse for the wear. You know, they maybe had some arm pain, some soreness for a day or two, maybe had a fever, but by and large, all they are is protected from this virus. And that's something that you are not. And so I think people are gaining that experience and they're feeling more comfortable. I think we just have to continue to point people toward those examples. Hey, this is safe, it's effective. It is our way to end this pandemic. And we need everybody in the game. We need everybody protected so the virus has nowhere to go. And just keep driving home that message. At the end of the day, you know, like I said, if your North Star is following the science, the science is really unequivocal in the direction of getting vaccinated.