Morehouse medical school gets $2.1M gift

Money will help to expand vaccine distribution,

Four historically Black medical schools are getting $6 million to expand coronavirus vaccination efforts in minority communities.

Former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s philanthropy announced the gifts Tuesday, giving $2.1 million to Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, $1.6 million to Charles R. Drew University of Medicine in Los Angeles, $1.6 million to Howard University College of Medicine in Washington and $869,000 to Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee.

Bloomberg is a billionaire who made his fortune with the news and financial media organization that he owns.

The money comes months after Bloomberg announced plans to give the schools $100 million over the next four years, with grants going to alleviate the debts of 800 individual students. He pledged $34 million to Meharry, $32.8 million to Howard, $26.3 million to Morehouse and $7.7 million to Drew.

Each of the schools will use the money to buy additional mobile vaccination units to expand current community outreach efforts. The vehicle is key because it helps provide refrigeration for vaccines, said Morehouse School of Medicine President and Dean Valerie Montgomery Rice.

Vaccination rates are lagging in many African American communities, but many leaders say fears that Black people would refuse the vaccine out of distrust have eased. A Census Bureau survey shows African Americans intend to get the vaccine at almost the same rate as the population at large.

Instead, people may be having trouble accessing the vaccine. Bloomberg said the four schools have deep relationships with Black communities and can be trusted providers of the vaccine in underserved areas.

Morehouse has vaccinated 5,200 people so far, but Rice said the grant will allow the school to increase the number of shots it gives by 500 to 1,000 a week. Rice said Morehouse plans a clinic at locations on the predominantly Black south side of Atlanta.