Harris: Vital WH is relevant in fighting COVID

Vice President Kamala Harris tells black mayors they are most important in getting an equitable response to Americans during the COVID-19 crisis and it is vital the administration is relevant in fighting the pandemic. "Our focus needs to be on making sure that everyone ends up in the same place, she said. Harris and the White House COVID-19 team held a virtual listening session Wednesday with African American Mayors Association where she told mayors "you all are boots on the ground."

"That's why we wanted to meet with you in the middle of this crisis. We want to make sure as an administration that we are relevant, that we are actually meeting the needs of this moment."

Newport News, Virginia Mayor McKinley Price, president of the African American Mayors Association told the White House COVID-19 team, that after news of a vaccine arrived there was "hope and optimism." But that Black mayor's "have been challenged recently due to the slow speed at which vaccines are being administered in many communities."

Price told Harris along with COVID-19 Response Coordinator Jeff Zients, and COVID-19 Health Equity Task Force Chair Dr. Marcella Nunez-Smith who attended the session "that many health departments don't have a vaccine distribution plan that focuses on communities of color."