Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, a key figure in creating what would become the Moderna Vaccine for COVID-19, speaks during Saturday’s event.
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill., 14th) chairs the house Black Maternal Health Caucus.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) has organized the Black History Month Breakfast every year since he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1981.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaks during the 41st Annual Black History Month Breakfast, held virtually on Feb. 12.
Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, a key figure in creating what would become the Moderna Vaccine for COVID-19, speaks during Saturday’s event.
Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill., 14th) chairs the house Black Maternal Health Caucus.
Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th) has organized the Black History Month Breakfast every year since he was elected to the House of Representatives in 1981.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) speaks during the 41st Annual Black History Month Breakfast, held virtually on Feb. 12.
Health and wellness was front and center at the 41st annual Black History Month Breakfast, held virtually on Saturday.
The event, hosted annually by House Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer (D-Md., 5th), is a celebration of achievements by African Americans.
“I felt it very appropriate during February to have a Black history breakfast to celebrate African American leaders,” Hoyer told Southern Maryland News.
“We have very significant public and private African American leaders, and I wanted to honor them and the history of African American contributions throughout our history,” he said.
The theme for this year’s event, held virtually for the second straight year, was “Black Health and Wellness,” which Hoyer felt important as Black communities have been hit hard by the pandemic.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black people are 2.5 times likely to be hospitalized and 1.7 times to die compared to their white counterparts.
This year’s keynote speaker was Dr. Kizzmekia S. Corbett, assistant professor if immunology and infectious disease at Harvard’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Corbett has studied infectious diseases for over 15 years, and played a key role at the National Institutes of Health in creating what is now known as the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
“Her work in making the vaccine has saved hundreds of thousands if not millions of lives,” Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) said on Saturday.
“The one thing that remains true is that vaccines are the most life-saving way to prevent disease in this world,” Corbett said.
Corbett said she had been studying coronaviruses for six years by the time the pandemic broke out, and once the vaccine was distributed she became an educator for those skeptical about it.
“In the same vein as a vaccine inventor, I also became a vaccine cheerleader,” Corbett said.
Throughout it all, Corbett was proud of her heritage during her work.
“I was a Black woman with a mission and a goal,” she said.
The event also had words from Rep. Lauren Underwood (D-Ill., 14th), who was elected the first Black woman to represent the district, and at age 35 is the youngest Black woman in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Underwood called Black health and wellness “an important priority after the last two years of the worst public health crisis in our country.”
Underwood chairs the House’s Black Maternal Health Caucus, whose objective is to raise awareness and take action about maternal health for Black women.
Recently, Underwood introduced the Black Maternal Health Momnibus Act of 2021, which would make investments into community-based organizations working to improve mental health outcomes.
The bill would also provide resources to the mental health risks faced by pregnant and postpartum veterans, support maternal mental health and other supports.
According to congress.gov, the bill was referred to the Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism and Homeland Security in April of last year.
Twitter: @DarrylSoMdNews
Twitter: @DarrylSoMdNews
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