Group of Black female doctors combat vaccine inequity in North Carolina
For psychiatrist Nerissa Price, helping the homeless on the streets of Raleigh, North Carolina, is a calling. Answering it is more urgent than ever, with the rush to vaccinate those at greatest risk.
"It just became so clear that this was going to be a population that was going to be ignored if I didn't do something about it," Price said.
Price is one of six African American doctors from WakeMed Health and Hospitals who are chipping away at vaccine inequities in North Carolina's hardest hit ZIP code. They call themselves the "Sister Circle."
"We've watched people in our community suffer. We've watched people die needlessly," said Dr. Rasheeda Monroe, a pediatrician who led the charge.
Monroe said they found "overwhelming demand" in African American communities. "We found that people were desperate for the vaccine."
Those people include Sheryl Peeples-Bin, who lost her brother to COVID-19. "We'll do this in memory of him," Price told Peeples-Bin as she received her vaccine.
"God bless you all to come into this community to take care of people," Peeples-Bin said.
So far, the "Sister Circle" has vaccinated 8,200 at 17 churches.
"It really is just this galvanizing force, like this is indeed what we came into medicine for. This I why we we're here," Monroe said.
Sisters who care, encircling people in need.
