Here’s a quick summary of the Fall 2021 Research Team’s efforts.

Team Leader
Katie MacQueen

Team Members
Alexis Lawrence
Johnnie Summerset
Rynasia Powell
Saba Tahseen

In this analysis, Alexis Lawerence, Rynasia Powell, and Saba Tahseen investigated the hesitancy within minority populations about receiving a COVID-19 vaccine.

The analysis goes into detail about various opinions within minority communities, health statistics, and the history and cultural aspects of why there has been lower numbers of minorities willing to be vaccinated.

One of the major topics that team members Katie MacQueen and Hannah Carroll analyzed was the impact of the political climate within the US on vaccination rates.

They collected and analyzed articles and scientific papers on various aspects of the topic. They also developed interview questions for experts on the topic.

They looked into evidence of political polarization, political messaging and vaccination rates, and identified some potential solutions to deficits caused by political polarization.

During their tenure with Uniting for Action, Alexis Lawerence and Rynasia Powell talked about the possibility and the importance of COVID vaccinations for children worldwide.

Alexis and Rynasia worked as a team to touch on all of the details of vaccine hesitancy, clinical trials, parent concerns, and the efficacy regarding children vaccinations.

Alexis and Rynasia also discuss controversy, culture, uncertainty, and history of vaccines in this analysis.

One of the most exciting projects done of the Research Team was the opportunity to present for 5 minutes to the FDA during the public comments portion of their meeting evaluating the booster shot of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine.

For the presentation the team put together a proposal, script, and presentation slides.

In the presentation the team discussed the concerns of depleted worldwide supply if boosters were administered to the general population. The team also discussed the confusing mixed messages coming from the US government. 

As a member of the Research Team, Saba Tahseen has been researching experts’ assessments and guidance regarding the use of Pfizer/BioNTech’s vaccine for children aged 5 through 11 years.

In her proposal to present to the FDA, she discussed safety of the vaccine, COVID-19 associated syndrome, and what FDA responsibilities are. From the research she mentioned that as the COVID-19 cases were increasing in adults, they also tend to increase in children.

From the scientific data available, clinical trial data showed vaccination was safe and it creates a “robust” immune response in 5-11-year olds.