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Brian Lehrer: The Brian Lehrer Show on WNYC. Good morning, everyone. Maybe you've heard the breaking news headline already this morning. The FDA will grant emergency use authorization to the vaccine developed by Pfizer and German biotech company BioNTech. That announcement comes from Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar, speaking on Fox Business. Yesterday an advisory panel gave this move the green light by a vote of 17 to 4. The news comes as the US surpassed 3,000 daily deaths. 3,000 deaths in one day, yesterday, shattering the previous record set only last week. We are having a 9/11, a Pearl Harbor, a San Francisco earthquake every day.

White House Coronavirus advisor, Dr. Deborah Birx, says this winter will be the biggest mass death event in US history. COVID deaths are now the leading daily cause of death in America, surpassing the usual number one heart disease. The vaccine news, of course, is a silver lining and a ray of hope, but there are still obstacles ahead, for that and for the country, questions to discuss, and, of course, equity issues to get past, with me now is Dr. Uché Blackstock, Urgent Care Physician, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equities, and Yahoo News medical contributor. Dr. Blackstock, always good to have you. Welcome back to WNYC.

Dr. Uché Blackstock: Hi, Brian, thank you for having me back.

Brian: With all of these things, what are you feeling now? As a physician, it must be surreal.

Dr. Blackstock: It feels absolutely surreal, especially when I think back to March, the onslaught of COVID patients, and thinking when will it end, and then not even thinking that a vaccine would be approved by the end of the year. As you mentioned, it is a ray or a glimmer of hope for many of us in healthcare, and I'm sure the rest of the public as well. I can't wait to get those vaccines and be able to give them to my patients.

Brian: As a physician and as somebody concerned about equity issues, which includes perception among a lot of Black and brown people that this might not be safe for them, and there are many historical reasons, and even present reasons not to trust the medical system, will you take the vaccine to set an example?

Dr. Blackstock: Absolutely, Brian. I will take the vaccine and also for multiple reasons. One to set an example, but also, I believe in the science. I think that the data that we have, so far from the Pfizer vaccine that has a favorable safety profile and a high efficacy, the resources that went into it, the brilliant minds that went into it, I feel it would be safe to take this vaccine. I also recognize that, as you mentioned, there is that history of medical experimentation in Black communities, as well as ongoing discrimination. Any conversations that I have with patients, family members, other loved ones about the vaccine, I appreciate that it actually will be a series of conversations.

Brian: A couple of people in the UK where it's already being distributed to the general public, had serious allergic reactions to the Pfizer vaccine, though from what I read, they use their EpiPens and are now fine. What is known so far about the risk for people with a history of allergic reactions to foods, medicines, or whatever those peoples were?

Dr. Blackstock: Great question, Brian. Essentially, there were two healthcare workers. It's unclear if they actually had anaphylaxis or anaphylactoid reactions. Anaphylactoid reactions are reactions that may look like a true allergic reaction. We know that of the tens of thousands of people that were in the clinical trials, there was never a severe allergic reaction that was described. It's really difficult to say whether these two reactions were related to receiving the vaccine or a pure coincidence. I also want to note that there are other ingredients in a vaccine, like propylene glycol, that people may have allergies, too.

Overall, we know that severe allergic reactions from vaccines are quite rare. I hope that people are not necessarily discouraged by this news that two people out of thousands of people who received the vaccine in the UK this week had a reaction.

Brian: There is this recommendation now, I understand, for people with certain serious allergies to consider not taking it but one expert on Morning Edition today said, "Don't worry if your allergy is to foods, like peanuts and eggs", a big reason that people carry EpiPens. Do you have an opinion about this yet? Is there enough data?

Dr. Blackstock: I would say no, there's not enough data and that we do need several more months at least of data. Again, I will say, just going back to the data that we do have, from the trial, from phase III clinical trials, that we did really not see any severe allergic reactions, definitely not in people who have food allergies. I think that probably the vaccine manufacturers are just being cautious and recommending against people who do have a history, not to take the vaccine.

Brian: Listeners, we can take your COVID-19 calls for Dr. Uché Blackstock on the vaccine or anything else. 646-435-7280. 646-435-7280, or tweet a question @BrianLehrer. Staying on side effects, I think the ethic in the medical community, the public health community, is to be open and transparent, that some people, may be many people, will expect some kind of side effects. What can you tell us?

Dr. Blackstock: Yes. There are typical side effects that we see with vaccines, as we've seen in the clinical trials, usually people will develop pain at the injection site or soreness, they may develop headache or fatigue. Usually, these symptoms lasts about one to two days. People should not be concerned that they were injected with the virus, per se, and that these are expected. I do think that transparency will be incredibly important to engendering trust around the vaccine.

We need to actually almost preemptively tell people, "These are the side effects that you will be experiencing", before they get this vaccine so that when they do experience these symptoms afterwards, they're not especially concerned.

Brian: To be clear, they're not getting mild cases of COVID-19, right?

Dr. Blackstock: They are not. Absolutely not. I think that's also clear, there's a lot of misinformation out there. I think that social media can be used for good, but I think also, I'm concerned about some of the information that I've been seeing on social media. I saw one yesterday, actually, it was a tweet by a hip hop artist that I've loved since I was a kid, and he mentioned something about we're injecting the virus into healthy people with the vaccine. I actually responded to him on Twitter and said, "That's actually not true, but I am very happy to engage with you around any questions you do have about the vaccine".

Brian: What did you explain to him that we are injecting people with?

Dr. Blackstock: Actually, he never responded. When I talk to my patients and family members, I explained to them about that this mRNA Technology, first of all, one, it's not necessarily new. It's new for a vaccine being approved. It's the first mRNA vaccine, but people have been studying mRNA vaccines for a very long time, but essentially we're injecting the mRNA and telling cells to create the spike protein that is actually on the surface of the virus, and then our body creates antibodies to that. The virus itself is not being injected and people don't have to worry about developing COVID from the virus.

Brian: Let's take a phone call. Rick in Astoria, you're on WNYC with Dr. Uché Blackstock. Hi, Rick.

Rick: Hey, good morning. Thank you for taking my call. Just for purposes of conversation, I do believe in science. I will take the shot as soon as it becomes available to me. Does anybody know what the objections were from the four dissenting scientists?

Brian: Yes, I know a little about that, but Dr. Blackstock, would you like to say something about that? I have a clip that I can play with respect to that. That should clarify it, but you're the doctor--

Dr. Blackstock: Please go ahead and play it. I think it has to do with the age but participants which are- go on.

Brian: Yes. It does have to do with a certain age group. There were some concerns on the FDA advisory panel about adolescence, under 17 years of age and going down to children. I think the particular controversy was whether the emergency authorization should apply to 16 to 18 year olds. Here's Dr. Cody Meissner, a member of that FDA advisory panel on All Things Considered yesterday. He told NPR's Ailsa Chang whose voice you will also hear in this.

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Dr. Cody Meissner: If you look at children, particularly people under 20 years of age, they are getting infected, no question about it, but they're not getting sick, they aren't symptomatic and-

Ailsa Chang: What would you need to know to feel comfortable about authorizing this vaccine in an emergency use situation for those kids?

Dr. Meissner: Yes. There were only 163 children who were included in this trial, 163 adolescents, 16 to 17 years old, and there were 44,000 people who were enrolled altogether so it was a very small number, and about half of those 163 got placebo and half got the vaccine. We're talking about 80, 16, and 17-year-old children who received the vaccine.

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Brian: Dr. Blackstock, it sounds like the issue is simply whether the potential risks to 16 and 17-year-olds in particular, just that narrow age range, whether the risks to them from COVID outweigh whatever risks there may be from the vaccine. Correct?

Dr. Blackstock: Correct, and that we don't have enough data, only a hundred and sixty-three out of 44,000 were involved in phase III trials. That's is insufficient data. I think that there probably were some people on the FDA advisory panel that just didn't feel comfortable with making that recommendation to authorize the vaccine for individuals 16 and older.

Brian: Right. That was the reason for the four no votes in addition to the 17 yes votes, because this emergency use authorization must include 16 and 17-year-olds, as at least being eligible for it. Is that correct?

Dr. Blackstock: Correct.

Brian: Okay. Maybe we've cleared that one up. Here's Jean in Westfield. You're on WNYC with Dr. Uché Blackstock. Hi, Jean.

Jean: Hi, Brian. Nice to talk to you. I wanted to know whether or not I would be able to take the vaccine, because about 40 years ago, I had an anaphylactic reaction to being stung by about 10 yellow jackets. Blacked out, took to the hospital. I was one high from top of my head to the bottom, they kept me overnight, and I was all right afterwards, but I've read or heard that anyone with that a problem might not be able to get the vaccine

Brian: Dr. Blackstock, what can you tell her? It goes back to that issue of serious allergies.

Dr. Blackstock: Right. Again, I don't think we have enough data yet. I think that what's probably going to happen in people who have had severe allergic reactions or anaphylaxis, that they will have to probably have shared decision-making conversations with their providers, once the vaccine is available to determine if it's safe. I think it's probably good to be on an individual basis at this point, until we get additional data.

Brian: How do you get data without experimenting on people with serious allergies who could be at great risk?

Dr. Blackstock: I think what's going to happen-- These trials are still ongoing. Pfizer and Moderna are still going to be collecting data even after they receive authorization and then, of course, there will be people who received the vaccine. Healthcare workers, elderly people, who received the vaccine and probably to have this history of severe allergies.

What it's important to know is that the FDA closely tracks adverse events from the vaccine, and so there is a database that is being set-up so that they really can keep track of this. It probably will be people that are still in clinical trials that will be monitored, as well as people who will inadvertently receive the vaccine and have had severe allergic reactions, and then report back about whether or not they had any response to the vaccine.

Brian: Here's a question from Twitter, listener asks question for the doctor, "People who have had Guillain-Barré syndrome are told not to take the flu vaccine, the annual flu vaccine. Will that be the same for the COVID-19 vaccine?"

Dr. Blackstock: No. I have not heard of a contraindication Guillain-Barré to the COVID vaccine. I think because one, the technology is different, mRNA, and also I think the ingredients and constituents of the vaccine itself are different from the flu vaccine. In all of the reading that I've been doing, I have not seen that as an exclusion criteria in terms of those who can receive the vaccine. The Guillain-Barré, it is a neurological disorder that causes paralysis, ascending paralysis. It's very scary and it is associated with the flu vaccine, but we didn't see a significant number of cases of that in the clinical trials.

Brian: I have a question about the more normal reactions that people can expect, because from what you've said, and from what I've heard elsewhere, this would be more than people typically get from their flu vaccines. There are other vaccines where people are more likely to get sick for a day or two, like after the current shingles vaccine, things like that.

If that's going to be the case, if people are anticipating that there's a fairly high likelihood that they're going to have a fever, they're going to experience that general sickness feeling, aches, chills, and stuff. Should they take Tylenol, Advil, or something shortly after the vaccine to mitigate the expected effects? I'm thinking like when I had some dental work that they expected pain from when the Novocaine wore off, the dentist said, "Take a painkiller before you do know if pain is going to kick in for an easier ride".

Dr. Blackstock: Yes, sure you can do that. You can take either ibuprofen or Tylenol even before you get the vaccination. Probably ibuprofen would better just because it's an anti-inflammatory, and a lot of the reason why you have those local side effects, it's because of inflammation in that area from the vaccine. Often when I take my child to the pediatrician and they get their vaccination shots, I give them ibuprofen right after, because I know it's going to be a rough night for all of us. But again, I think that it's important to relay that these side effects, to patients before they receive the vaccine so that they are not scared because we wouldn't want them to send discourage others from getting the vaccine.

Brian: Patrick in Nassau County. You're on WNYC with Dr. Uché Blackstock. Hi, Patrick.

Patrick: Hi. How are you guys this morning?

Brian: Doing all right.

Dr. Blackstock: Hi.

Patrick: I have, a couple of concerns especially about the rollout of inoculating so many people. We know that there's not going to be enough vaccines, and that there is a possibility that the antibodies will only last for about three months. My question is, as this rolls out, probably into the summer, over a long period of time, the first people that get inoculate it, if they can still spread the virus, how are we going to keep these people from acting responsibly when a lot of people-- the population hasn't been inoculated yet, when we can't even get them to wear masks?

To follow-up, if it only lasts three months, are we going to be running back to be vaccinated every three months as they keep building off the distribution and manufacturing it. It's just going to be something that we're going to be doing for the rest of our lives when there are therapies like the? [unintelligible 00:17:45] I don't know if you've ever heard of it, that might actually help the severe and possibly with an inhalant form, just killed the virus at inception.

Brian: Patrick, thank you very much. He asked a few important questions there and I want to step back and pick them apart a little bit. I think the underlying premise of the first part of his question is really important because I've heard somebody say this before, but you tell me if it's true, that these vaccines that are coming out, don't actually prevent you from getting the virus. You can get the virus, you just don't get sick from the virus but if that's the case, as the caller asks, you might theoretically still be contagious to others who are not immune, true or false?

Dr. Blackstock: This is what we know. The primary endpoint of this studies were to look at, does this vaccine reduce disease? Then, another secondary endpoint is whether it decreases viral transmission, and we don't know that yet. That's why clinical trial participants are going to be continued to be followed, but I also think what this speaks to is that one of the failures of this federal administration was around public health messaging around wearing masks, physically distancing, washing hands.

What we're trying to tell people is that, yes, you still have to do all of that because again, we don't know if people who received the vaccine are still contagious. However, there is some increasing evidence that people may not necessarily be contagious, although we don't have definitive evidence yet and we won't know that for a few months. I also just wanted to address the issue about the three months of antibodies.

The reason why we have the three months data is because those people who received vaccines were only studied for three months. They weren't studied longer than that. Also, we have evidence that there are other memory cells, memory B cells, T cells, and other types of cells involved in the immune response that actually we'll be able to remember the virus, and respond in the future. The thought is that immunity actually will likely last more than three months at this point, we don't know if people may need to receive the vaccine on a yearly basis, like the flu vaccine, that still remains to be seen, but we definitely know that immunity does last for more than three months, even once a person no longer has detectable antibodies.

Brian: We have a lot of questions coming in, as you might imagine. We'll continue in a minute with Dr. Uché Blackstock and besides your questions on the vaccine, I'm going to play a clip of Rudy Giuliani from this week on COVID, that may be at once outrageous and also true in a way that might help some of you who get it in the future. Stay with us.

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Brian: Brian Lehrer on WNYC and with the news this morning, the Health and Human Services Secretary, Alex Azar says, "The FDA will approve the Pfizer coronavirus vaccine." We'll talk to the mayor later in the program about when the first doses will arrive in New York, and how they will be distributed. We're talking now with Dr. Uché Blackstock, Urgent Care Physician, founder and CEO of Advancing Health Equities, and a Yahoo News medical contributor. Taking your calls for her at 646-435-7280, 646-435-7280.

Dr. Blackstock put on your Advancing Health Equities hat, and talk about this tweet of yours, which said, "Health and Human Services has contracted with large retail chain pharmacies like Walgreens and CVS to distribute the vaccine, while many Black and Latinx Americans live in pharmacy deserts, where even trying to get to a pharmacy as a challenge." How does the public health system fill that gap?

Dr. Blackstock: I will say it's because of decades of disinvestment in our public health infrastructure and because we have a decentralized healthcare system, this vaccine rollout is going to be relying a lot on the private sector, so there's large chain of retail pharmacies. What we know is that, one, there's been significant number of hospital closures across the country, mostly in Black and brown neighborhoods. We also know that in certain cities like Chicago, they don't have large chain pharmacies as often in Black and brown neighborhoods.

If we're thinking about a free and accessible vaccine, and people have to go to a hospital or a pharmacy but they're not located in every neighborhood, that's going to be a barrier for many patients. We do have these pharmacy deserts that exist. One of my concerns is that when the vaccine rollout we are going to see inequities and how the vaccine is being distributed.

I do have some ideas about how to improve things. I think that-- Like we saw with testing, we need to make testing available everywhere, while there may be cold chain storage issues with the vaccine, especially Pfizer and Moderna vaccines, I think we need to be very innovative, thinking about using schools, community centers, churches, even having mobile vaccination units to address some of these gaps that we're probably going to see.

Brian: Besides those things, should the pecking order of who becomes eligible when for the vaccines take race into account explicitly, like if we know that Black and Latinx people are getting sicker and dying from COVID at a higher rate than white and Asian people, which certainly the case, should there be a racial pecking order? Or should that be accounted for more by some of the other risk factors that are causing that higher death rate?

Dr. Blackstock: Brian, that's my favorite question. Thank you so much for asking that. I think that what needs to happen-- Well, I think that we can all agree that in the first group healthcare workers and people in long-term care facilities should receive the vaccination, that's fine. But the problem- I do think that race should be used as a factor in prioritizing people, however, race and ethnicity can't be included in any of those criteria due to federal anti-discrimination laws. However, at the same time that accounting for race, can lead to inequitable distributions.

The CDC actually has a structural vulnerability index that about 18 states are going to use, and that measures how socially vulnerable a certain community is, and that's actually derived from census data, but they look at whether there's overcrowded housing, access to vehicles, poverty, income, employment, and then they also use minority status, which I think is their way of getting around race. There are about 18 states are actually going to use this in determining who should get the vaccine first. I agree with that. I think that, especially when we're talking about scarce resources, like the vaccine, we need to really make sure that we are including equity in those frameworks.

I also think that we should consider using-- There are racial equity tools out there, like the Government Alliance of Racial Equity Tool that you ask questions like, what is your desired outcome? Are you engaging with communities? And who will benefit or be burdened by this process or prioritization scheme? We need to be intentional about thinking about race and racial equity in the vaccine distribution process.

Brian: Really interesting. Is there something there for the mayor when he comes on next hour? Is it up to him?

Dr. Blackstock: Yes. I think it's up to this, in the States are dictating what their distribution scheme is going to look like and if they want to, they can or can't follow the CDC's Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices prioritization scheme, but I do think that he should consider that. The other point that I wanted to note is that it's not race that is the risk factor necessarily, for being infected and dying from COVID, it's racism. It's the environment, the lack of opportunities that racism creates, that put Black and brown people at risk for being infected and dying from COVID.

Brian: Here's a question via Twitter from someone who asks, "Can people currently undergoing chemotherapy safely take the vaccine? If so, will they be included in the first round?" That's an interesting question in part, because we know people with cancer are among those who are at the highest risk from developing serious effects if they get COVID.

Dr. Blackstock: Right. That's a great question. From what I know, I don't think they included people who were immunocompromised in the clinical trials. Immunocompromised, meaning people also on chemotherapy, just like pregnant people and people who were lactating were also not included in the clinical trials.

Brian: Let's take another call. The caller I was going to go to hung up. I'm going to ask his question. The question was, "If I've had COVID and I test positive currently for antibodies, do I need to take the vaccine?"

Dr. Blackstock: Yes. The current thinking is, yes, you still have to take the vaccine because again, we still don't know how long immunity will last. Everyone should still take the vaccine, regardless of whether you've been infected with COVID and have antibodies or not.

Brian: Let's take another call. Here is Mary in Fairfield County. You're on WNYC with Dr. Uché Blackstock, Mary. Hi.

Mary: Hi, Brian, this is a quickie. With the flu shot, I understand that there's a high dose for older people, for senior citizens. I haven't heard any discussion of this, about the COVID vaccine, is the same going to be the case?

Dr. Blackstock: No, actually right now there's just one dose of the Pfizer-- well, it'll be two doses, 21 days apart for the Pfizer vaccine, but there was not a higher dose vaccine for elderly people. I think with the flu, the issue is that in elderly people you want-- because your immune system is not as strong, you want to make sure that you give enough of the attenuated flu virus so that they develop a response in their antibodies. I don't think that is the same case with COVID, at least we don't know that yet.

Brian: Lauren in Brooklyn, you're on WNYC with Dr. Blackstock. Hi, Lauren.

Lauren: Hi, Brian and hi, Dr. Blackstock. I've had some interesting conversations. I'm in my late 20s and I've been talking to a lot of my female friends, childbearing is on the horizon for most of us within the next three to five years. I've actually heard a lot of the same concerns about this not being long-term tested on the effects of either carrying a child, getting pregnant, or the results later in a child's life. I actually have a friend who's an ICU nurse who declined the vaccination because of this concern. I try not to listen to this type of rhetoric, but it definitely gets a lot of women right where they really care about something.

Dr. Blackstock: I think what we're hearing from the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, is that they're actually telling pregnant people to have a conversation with their obstetricians about the vaccine, and that they can weigh the risk and benefits because right now we don't have any data yet on this vaccine in clinical trials on pregnant people. Two, initially these studies need to be done on animals first, so on pregnant animals. Then, we also need that data to make some conclusions, but the experts are arguing that pregnant people in the conversations with their clinicians, can decide for themselves whether or not they want to take the vaccine.

Lauren: Great. Thanks. How about women who would like to have children in the near future? Is that the same type of values, we should waste the same?

Dr. Blackstock: I would say that any conversation about taking the vaccine, especially around childbearing, you should have with your obstetrician, but I haven't seen any concerning data about long-term effects around the vaccine. Just keep in mind that most vaccines, once they're approved, we don't have long-term data. The only reason people are worried about this time is because they feel the process has been rushed.

The process hasn't necessarily been rushed, what's happened is that typically these phases occur consecutively, but this time the government was able to put enough funds and resources in to allow these spaces to occur in parallel. We typically don't have long-term data for most vaccines once they're approved. I think, again, these are conversations that you need to have with your clinicians with weighing the risks and benefits.

Brian: Lauren, thanks for your call. Lauren just freaked out her boyfriend, he's going to call later and say, "I heard you on the radio say you want to have kids in the next few years." Just kidding. Lauren, thank you. Susan in Southern County, you're on WNYC with Dr. Blackstock. Hi, Susan.

Susan: Hi. My question is if people who are diagnosed with multiple autoimmune diseases and are on immune-suppressing medication for them, are eligible or should take the vaccine?

Dr. Blackstock: Again, I think this group would probably belong in the immunocompromised group, and they were not involved in the phase III clinical trials. But again, these are conversations that you need to have with your rheumatologists, for example, because there are concerns about being on immunosuppressants, your immune system doesn't function normally or is not able to respond as appropriately to infections. Definitely, there is that concern.

Brian: Susan, thank you. Let me ask you a question that is both politics and public health. Rudy Giuliani was on the radio in New York on WABC this week. He said something that might be at once outrageous, but also true. Of course, Giuliani is one of the latest in Trump world to get COVID. Checked himself into a hospital, as they say, out of an abundance of caution, is now out, as I understand it. Here's part of what he said, his takeaway from his experience.

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Rudy Giuliani: My advice to people is, get early treatment. If you think you have symptoms, don't check, what's the worst? You don't have anything. Big deal. If you get early treatment, nothing's going to happen to you. The earlier you get treated for this, number one, you totally eliminate the chance of dying, and number two, you probably eliminate the chance of getting a more complicated illness.

[end of audio playback]

Brian: Dr. Blackstock, the outrageous part to me is- and you're laughing, so I should just let you talk, but the outrageous part to me is that here he is getting special treatment because he's a buddy of the president. One of the questions that I have is, is he right? And should people with new COVID diagnoses go get remdesivir, go get the antibody treatment, and go get steroids?

Dr. Blackstock: Yes, that's absolutely outrageous what he's saying. I would say that those two- the Eli Lilly monoclonal antibody and the Regeneron antibody that received EUA, when they are given early, we do have some evidence that people do do better, but the problem is that they are scarce. They aren't enough for everyone that has COVID, and that needs to go to the hospital.

That's the other problem that because of his privilege and his influence, he was able to receive this scarce resource, these monoclonal antibodies early as was, I believe, Ben Carson and President Trump as well. This can not be generalizable to the general public at all, because we don't have enough of this medication and therapeutics to give to patients.

Brian: What do you tell your patients or other doctors patients who you know when they get COVID-19 and they hear this, and they see what the president did and they say, "I want early intervention"?

Dr. Blackstock: I definitely tell them-- It's different the way I tell them now than what I told them last spring. Last spring, our hospitals were at capacity. I really had to be very mindful of who I sent to the emergency room and who I didn't. Now, most people that I'm seeing, that I'm diagnosing with COVID, they are relatively healthy and stable. I tell them to purchase a pulse oximeter, a portable one, a finger, one that they can put on. I give them warning signs or symptoms to look out for. I tell them, obviously, if anything concerning comes up, chest tightness, shortness of breath, fatigue, to come back. The fact is that, unfortunately, these medications are not available to everybody, and I know that's unfair.

Brian: We're going to have to leave it here for now with Dr. Uché Blackstock. This has been great as it always is when you come on. You've answered so many people's questions-

Dr. Blackstock: Thank you.

Brian: - about the vaccine that apply, not only to them but to other people who are listening. I know whole categories of people. I want to note before you go that Sunday night at six o'clock, listeners, you can tune into The United States of Anxiety with my colleague, Kai Wright for a conversation about how the medical community earned the distrust of Black Americans, and what it will mean when the COVID vaccine is available to the public in that context. Kai will be joined by various Black medical professionals. One of them will be Dr. Oni Blackstock. Hey, I know that last name, and rumor has it, she's your twin sister, is that correct?

Dr. Blackstock: Yes. There are two of us. There are two Dr. Blackstocks.

Brian: Did you go to medical school together?

Dr. Blackstock: We did. Brian, can I used this opportunity to say that we're from Brooklyn, New York. We are big fans of you, and it's always such an honor to be on this show with you, truly. I listen to you almost every day.

Brian: Well, that is too nice. I can just imagine being the med school professor saying, "Oh God, is this Uché or is this Oni? I don't know. They're twins, they're dressing the same, they're trying to fool me into thinking the one's test is really the other tests".

Dr. Blackstock: We tried to be good. We did that in high school, but not in medical school.

[laughter]

Brian: Well, I'm sure your parents are very proud of you. Twin sisters, who both grew up to be MDs and that you're very proud of each other. Listeners, if you like hearing Dr. Uché Blackstock on this show, tune in Sunday night with Kai Wright for United States of Anxiety, and here, Dr. Oni Blackstock. Dr. Uché, thank you so much.

Dr. Blackstock: Thank you so much, Brian.

 

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