# Administrative Core

> **NIH NIH U54** · TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY · 2021 · $242,550

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 The COVID-19 pandemic has disproportionately affected minority and underserved communities thus
highlighting the need for innovative approaches to address the impact this disease has had on our most
vulnerable populations. According to the CDC, Blacks are 3X more likely to die from Covid-19 infection and 4X
more likely to be hospitalized, than their white counterparts. In Alabama, Black people have died at 1.5 times
the rate of white people, with higher rates found in rural areas, which often lack healthcare
infrastructure. Unfortunately, the disparity that exist with regard to the morbidity and mortality associated with
Covid-19 infection, has carried over to decreased Covid-19 vaccination rates in minority populations, which is
more pronounced in southern states, where there is long-standing issues of lack of access to care for minority
populations, due to underfunding of safety-net healthcare institutions and frank systemic racism. Thus, to
decrease the disparity in morbidity and mortality from COVID-19 infection experienced by these individuals, we
need to work together to address the inequities that increase the risk of death from COVID-19 for minority and
underserved populations and that contribute to their decreased vaccination rates.
 While issues of mistrust of government-run healthcare programs exist in minority and rural communities
and has contributed to some degree to decreased uptake of Covid-19 vaccination in minority populations, a
larger issue is related to misinformation which has contributed to 34% of Blacks opting for the “wait and see”
approach, especially in younger individuals spread the disease in their communities. Therefore, there must be
a concerted, multi-prong bottom-up approach involving various stakeholders that have a history of community
engagement in these populations and has already garnered trustworthiness. Here we propose such a
program, the WeCARE project, which consist of an intertwined network of various stakeholders such as
community leaders, healthcare providers, and civic organizations, that will work together on various fronts to
address the barriers contributing to this Covid-19 vaccination hesitancy. Led by Tuskegee University, this
project is focused on providing ethically-sound, culturally-appropriate, evidence-based information on the
Covid-19 vaccines to at-risk minority and underserved rural populations. The goal is to obtain data related to
the unique and often unnamed barriers to Covid-19 vaccination, that many will only share with entities that
have earned their trust prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, and use this partnership to overcome those barriers,
thus resulting in increased uptake of vaccination in these at-risk communities.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10494534
- **Project number:** 3U54MD007585-30S1
- **Recipient organization:** TUSKEGEE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** Clayton Yates
- **Activity code:** U54 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $242,550
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1997-07-07 → 2023-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10494534

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10494534, Administrative Core (3U54MD007585-30S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10494534. Licensed CC0.

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