As members of the Philadelphia Chapter of the National Organization for Women, we are writing today to publicly express our outrage at the utter failure of the City of Philadelphia in handling the COVID-19 pandemic and particularly the vaccine roll out. Mayor Jim Kenny has failed to effectively lead our city in this crisis, which is further compounded by Health Commissioner Thomas Farley who has been at the helm since February 2016. Commissioner Farley indicated in a City Council public hearing on this crisis that he had abdicated his responsibility regarding addressing this pandemic to a Deputy Health Commissioner.

The proverbial final straw was the heinous experiment with a company led by a 22-year-old white man with no health care experience while ignoring the Black physician led Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, which has been successfully testing and vaccinating people in underserved areas of the city this past year. We include the racial description to underscore what seems to be inherent racism involved in the decision making, since we cannot find any other factor to explain this egregious decision.

To underscore the issue of racial disparity, the Philadelphia Tribune reported, “After more than a month into the city’s vaccination program, Black Philadelphians make up a mere 12.3% of the 115,197 administered COVID-19 vaccines, which included both first and second doses, according to city data. African Americans make up 44% of the city’s population. Whites account for 52.3% of all vaccinations but make up 34% of the city’s population, according to the city data.” Under the Kenny administration, the data is evidence that for every Black Philadelphian, 4.25 White Philadelphians are being vaccinated!

Most exasperating and negligent was that the “Health Commissioner Thomas Farley said he had no updates about what steps hospitals were taking to reduce the vaccine racial gap.”.

It is worth noting that COVID-19 is having a complex and fatal impact on women and especially women of color who are on the frontlines as healthcare, childcare, education and domestic workers, but yet remain invisible. The CDC reports that white women over age 50 accounted for a majority of the first COVID-19 vaccinations administered in the United States. The report highlights racial and ethnic inequities among those most affected by the COVID-19 pandemic with the highest risk of infection and the most dangerous outcomes are African Americans, Native Americans or Alaska Natives and Hispanic Americans.

In Philadelphia, we continually tout ourselves for being a city of “Eds & Meds”, but do not hold these institutions accountable for being responsible neighbors. Despite the recent pledge of $100M from the University of Pennsylvania, which is merely $10M per year for an institution with $15B in endowment, there is no taxation of these behemoth of institutions nor do we as a City, actively pursue partnerships to better the quality of the lives of residents. The entire vaccination program for the City could be funded by these institutions as a payment in lieu of taxes. They also have the personnel with the expertise, epidemiologists, public health experts, etc. who could collaborate with on-the-ground Community Development Corporations (CDCs) such as Africa Cultural Alliance of North America, Inc., ACANA to vaccinate hard to reach populations. Instead we have paid out over $1.8 million of tax dollars to the extremely profitable CHOP (who should be ashamed for applying for such monies) and denied resources to ACANA and other local non-profits with a track record of community engagement. The University of California, Davis is a great model of mobilizing resources. It is operating on the “The university is part of the community” ethos and has fully engaged with the entire city to help to contain the virus.

As residents and taxpayers of the City of Philadelphia, we demand the following:

1. That the Kenney Administration immediately acknowledges the systemic racism that has run rampant through the City’s public health plan and develops an immediate plan, in conjunction with the Health Center Advisory Council, for retaining and promoting BIPOC medical professionals to positions of authority and to address the other inequities in a system that services primarily Black and Brown residents.
2. A clear strategic plan about distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine with measurable milestones: a. Clear coordination with the CDC as the central point of command (or PA Health Department Logistic Point of Contact if delineated) b. Comprehensive communication plan via multiple media to reach every Philadelphian, to include, but not limited to, mailings, phone calls, broadcast TV, newspapers, digital media, communication strategy with faith-based organizations, local community-based organizations, schools, and in multiple languages. c. Specific measures to reach vulnerable residents and communities within the next six months. d. Details on steps being taken to eliminate the racial disparity of vaccination delivery.
3. Timely reports to the public of outcomes of the vaccination plan; Open-sourced database showing progress.
4. Continue to cooperate fully with any and all authorities regarding the allegations of misconduct of Philly Fights COVID and its actors.

Thus far, almost five hundred thousand Americans have died from this virus.

The urgency of now demands that the city of “Brotherly Love and Sisterly Affection” combat this deadly virus in an organized, impactful manner.

In Solidarity,

Vanessa L. Fields President, Philadelphia Chapter of NOW

Nina Ahmad, Ph.D., President , Philadelphia NOW Education Fund

PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION HERE: https://tinyurl.com/3cvh6vdn