Click Here for Video of Murphy’s Full Exchange with Murthy and Levine

 

WASHINGTON—U.S. Senator Chris Murphy (D-Conn.), a member of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, on Thursday asked President Biden’s nominees to serve as the U.S. Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, and Assistant Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine, about the need for vaccine equity and opportunities for summer programs that address social, emotional, and educational loss as a result of the pandemic.

On vaccine inequities, Murphy said: “When we have this conversation about equitable distributions of vaccines, I want to make sure that we're building systems that meet people where they are, rather than just looking at these numbers, where, in Connecticut, we have incredibly low rates of African Americans and Latinos who are taking a vaccine, and say, ‘Oh, well, that's because those populations don't want it’ or ‘we have to convince them why it's important.’”

Murphy also brought up his proposal to increase summer programming opportunities for kids from low-income backgrounds: “As a parent of two school-aged kids in the public school system, neither of which have set a foot inside their school, have been doing full distance learning for the last year, I really worry about our kids’ emotional health. I know we've talked about that already today. We've seen suicide rates increase, emergency visits skyrocket. And this summer I really think we've got to work on emotionally resetting kids, getting them reconnected to their peers so that they're ready to learn.”

Murphy has been convening roundtables across Connecticut with stakeholders and leaders to discuss vaccine equity as well as the need for summer programming funding to be included in the next COVID-19 relief package. Earlier this month, Murphy laid out the need to fund summer programs in the next COVID-19 relief package on the Senate floor and offered his ideas in an interview with Education Week. 

A full transcript of Murphy’s exchange with Murthy and Levine can be found below:

Murphy: “I have two sets of questions for both of you. One for each, excuse me. Dr. Murthy, I wanted to talk once again about this issue of vaccine distribution. I know there was some conversation about vaccine hesitancy earlier. I convened a conversation in Connecticut last week to talk about vaccine equity. And I received a significant amount of pushback from the folks around the table when this conversation came up about hesitancy, right?

“Many of them felt like that was an effort to blame communities of color for a problem that has, I think, potentially been created through the design of how we have administered the vaccine. When you create a sort of first come first serve vaccine system, you disadvantage those who work two or three jobs, who have trouble taking a day off work in order to make the one appointment that's available.

“I heard a lot about just a lack of information, that when you don't listen to people about where they get information, that you end up with broad sectors of the population, especially those maybe who don't have English as the first language, not having basic information about when the vaccine is available. 

“And so when we have this conversation about equitable distributions of vaccines, I want to make sure that we're building systems that meet people where they are, rather than just looking at these numbers, where, in Connecticut, we have incredibly low rates of African Americans and Latinos who are taking a vaccine, and say, ‘Oh, well, that's because those populations don't want it’ or ‘we have to convince them why it's important.’”

“A lot of it, I think, is that the design just makes it harder for communities of color, low-income communities to be able to access it. How do you respond to that critique?”

Murthy: “Well, senator, it's good to see you. And thank you for that question. Look, I think that you're highlighting a critical issue here, which is that vaccine hesitancy is complex and not solely experienced by members of racial minority groups. But there are many groups in society right now that, at some level, are concerned about vaccines. And we have to recognize that and understand that their reasons for hesitancy are different because that will inform our response. 

“But the distribution, you're right, the disparities we often see with vaccine distribution are often related to pre-existing structural challenges that we have, one of them being a lack of access to health care that many people unfortunately face. 

“And if we want to, not only with COVID, but with future potential pandemics, have a system that can respond well, we've got to ensure that we have community health centers that can actually distribute this vaccine. And this is why I think CHCs are such a powerful part of our health care apparatus. We've got to be able to quickly stand up mobile units to bring the vaccine to where people are, and we also have to ensure that we are establishing community vaccination centers strategically, in locations where typically it's hard for people to access these vaccines.”

Murphy: “Thank you, appreciate that. I think so much of our conversation in the subject is around this question of hesitancy, it's an important one, but we have to be talking about systems as well. Dr. Levine, I and a group of my colleagues have been pushing really hard to have specific money set aside in the COVID package for summer programming. And summer programming for kids that is centered on their emotional wellbeing. 

“As a parent of two school-aged kids in the public school system, neither of which have set a foot inside their school, have been doing full distance learning for the last year, I really worry about our kids’ emotional health. I know we've talked about that already today. We've seen suicide rates increase, emergency visits skyrocket. And this summer I really think we've got to work on emotionally resetting kids, getting them reconnected to their peers so that they're ready to learn.

This is your field of specialty. What's your sort of broad sense of what kids need right now? Where should our focus be on making sure that kids are emotionally healthy once schools sort of fully reopen and get back to normal in the fall?”

Levine: “Well, senator, thank you for this question. I particularly enjoyed our discussion about this a number of days ago. Certainly, the mental health needs of children in our country right now are at the forefront. Pediatric and adolescent mental health has been part of my career in academic medicine and at the Pennsylvania Department of Health, and I think COVID-19 has certainly exacerbated those mental health issues and mental health needs.

“I was really quite taken by your idea in terms of summer programming, and if I am fortunate enough to be confirmed to this position, I would very much look forward to meeting with you again and your staff and working on this issue and see what we can do to actualize it.”

Murphy: “Great. Well, thank you very much. Thank you to both of you for your willingness to continue your service to the country.”

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