Joint Statement on One Million COVID-19 Related Deaths

We were deeply saddened to learn of the one-millionth death from COVID-19. One million seats are now empty at dinner tables, in church pews, and at desks across the country. We cannot bring our family members and friends back, but we can honor their lives. Unfortunately, over 230,000 people lost their lives because they could not, or would not, be vaccinated.

Why is Good Health WINs important? Of the 1M deaths, approximately 230,000 (or 23%) of them were among African Americans. The real disparity comes in the rates of disease, hospitalization, and death. If you are African American, you are 1.1 times more likely to contract COVID, 2.4 times more likely to be hospitalized, and 1.7 times more likely to die than white people. (source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalizationdeath-by-race-ethnicity.html)

Good Health WINs will continue to increase the availability of vaccines and messaging to Black and Hispanic communities; increase our range of trusted community voices and most importantly implement strategies to reduce racial and or ethnic disparities in adult and child vaccination coverage. We believe that working collaboratively will decrease Covid-19 numbers significantly,
especially in our communities.

We, therefore, choose to remember our loved ones by ensuring everyone has access to, and accurate information about, COVID-19 vaccines and boosters. Please join us in our efforts to build vaccine confidence to keep our families and communities safe through this continuing pandemic.

Respectfully,
Elsie Cooke-Holmes, National President and Chair of the National Board of Directors,
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Dr. Thelma T. Daley, National President, and Chair, National Council of Negro Women
Janice L. Mathis, Esq. Executive Director, National Council of Negro Women