![Dean Thomas LaVeist receives a covid-19 vaccination](https://i0.wp.com/sphtmmagazine.tulane.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/629/2021/03/Vaccination-e1617125824192.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1)
National Academy of Medicine members urge Black Americans to get vaccinated
In a new video released today, Black members of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM), the premier health science organization in the United States, are urging Black Americans to get the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available to them.
![Photo of exterior of the White House in Washington D.C.](https://i0.wp.com/sphtmmagazine.tulane.edu/wp-content/uploads/sites/629/2021/03/03112021_Whitehouse.jpg?resize=200%2C150&ssl=1)
Looking Ahead: The Biden Administration and Public Health
On his first day in office, President Joe Biden released the American Rescue Plan. It laid out an agenda to increase COVID-19 testing and vaccinations, address pandemic-related health disparities, provide funds for emergency relief, mobilize a public health jobs program that would supplement the pandemic response, and safely reopen schools, among a slew of other initiatives.