AAPA Joins Coalition to Advocate for Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution

Seeks to Communicate with Diverse Populations Most Harmed by Pandemic

December 17, 2020

AAPA has joined with other organizations representing patients, families, healthcare providers, veterans, frontline workers, and scientists to support the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project to help inspire vaccine confidence in all communities. The Project will encourage adherence to robust regulatory review of COVID-19 vaccines, share knowledge about the process to increase transparency and raise awareness that all stakeholders need to be involved in the process.

“AAPA will provide educational materials for PAs shared by the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project and advocate that the healthcare community adhere to a gold standard regulatory review process,” says Beth Smolko, DSMc, PA-C, DFAAPA, AAPA president and chair of the Board. “We want to raise awareness of the importance of the vaccines, promote their uptake to protect individuals, families and communities, and ensure the equitable access to information about it.”

The COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project has more than 60 collaborating organizations representing those essential to the conversation about COVID-19 vaccinations. The Project is guided by the core belief that approval and dissemination of a COVID-19 vaccine must be based on:

• Robust clinical trials that include diverse patient populations
• Public disclosure of results from Phase 3 clinical trials
• Authorization and approval based on evidence generated from clinical trials and well-established review processes at FDA
• Transparent and ongoing post-marketing safety surveillance

The Project is led by the Alliance for Aging Research, HealthyWomen, and the National Caucus and Center on Black Aging, Inc. Initial support for the COVID-19 Vaccine Education and Equity Project has been provided by Pfizer, Inc. As part of the effort, the project has launched a website to share information and resources to help educate a variety of critical audiences about the process and the science related to COVID-19 vaccines, as well as address the health inequities that exist generally and specifically with respect to COVID-19.

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