Reps. Krishnamoorthi and Foster Deliver Opening Remarks At Chicago Field Hearing on Combating Vaccine Hesitancy
Washington, D.C. (November 10, 2021) - Today, Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi and Rep. Bill Foster delivered opening remarks at an in-person field hearing in Chicago on the urgent need to build vaccine confidence and increase vaccinations in the city of Chicago, the state of Illinois, and across the country. Remarks as prepared are below:
Rep. Raja Krishnamoorthi(presiding)
I would like to thank Congressman Foster for joining me today, and all of today's witnesses for taking the time to testify about the critical issue of building vaccine confidence.
I would also like to thank Chairman Clyburn of the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis for his strong leadership and for lending us resources for this important hearing.
President Biden, Governor Pritzker, and Mayor Lightfoot have successfully vaccinated millions of Americans – over 222 million in total, including 8.3 million in Illinois, and 1.6 million in Chicago. That's over 75% of all Americans, Illinoisans, and Chicagoans over age 12 who have received at least one dose of the vaccine.
In just five months, the vaccine prevented 140,000 deaths across the nation.
We know that the coronavirus vaccine is effective. We know that it is safe. And we also know that widespread vaccination is the way to end the pandemic. So, why aren't more people getting vaccinated?
After all, without the vaccine, people are 6 times more likely to get coronavirus, and 11 times more likely to die from it. And vaccinations offer better protection against the coronavirus than immunity from a prior infection: unvaccinated people who had recovered from a prior infection are 5 times more likely to get COVID than those who are vaccinated.
With the vaccine, families can confidently gather for the holidays. Kids can see their grandparents. Children can spend more time in school, and less time quarantining.
The federal government has provided millions of dollars in aid to end this scourge. The American Rescue Plan provided $350 billion across the country, including about $275 million for Illinois vaccine distribution work. Chicago's vaccination efforts were fueled by almost $100 million in federal funding.
Yet many Americans remain unvaccinated. Nationwide, more than 20% of adults and children over the age of 12 have not yet received even one dose of the vaccine. Illinois ranks in the top half of states in terms of vaccination rates. Yet among adults and children over age 12, 23% have not started a vaccine series. In Chicago, that number is 25%.
We now have an unprecedented opportunity to increase vaccine uptake in Chicago and across the nation. Just last week, federal regulators approved the vaccine for children ages 5 to 11.
We owe it to our children to get shots in their arms quickly and equitably. They'll spend more time learning, and, importantly, they'll be able to get back to playing sports and socializing. They'll have access to reduced price nutritional meals and other important social services schools provide.
President Biden, Governor Pritzker, and Mayor Lightfoot are all working hard to get shots to our kids. They're ensuring that vaccines are readily available at locations parents know and trust, like pediatrician's offices, children's hospitals, and schools.
Chicago is closing its public schools this Friday so parents can get their children vaccinated, and offering $100 to children who do.
As we vaccinate young children, we must continue to address vaccine hesitancy in historically underserved communities. We must continue the hyperlocal outreach that is working in Chicago. That means sending trusted messengers into their communities to have non-judgmental conversations. That's how you build vaccine confidence.
We're going to hear from many people today about how well this approach works.
We're going to hear from Mayor Lightfoot, who spearheaded the Protect Chicago 77 program, a community engagement program working to ensure 77% of Chicagoans 12 and older, across all 77 Chicago communities, have started their vaccinations by the year's end.
Chicago is getting close – it's at 75%. To help get to 77%, every Chicagoan can talk to friends and loved ones about the vaccine. Business can require vaccinations for their staff and patrons.
And we won't just hear from government leaders. We'll hear from people who are out in their communities, doing the hard work of on-the-ground outreach.
Ms. Martha Martinez, the supervisor at an outreach program at a public library, will tell you about how she and her team talk to community members every day. Dr. Omar Khan is both a medical doctor and a Muslim community leader. He will tell us about how he's tailored his work to those in his community. Mr. Don Abram works for the Interfaith Youth Core, which funds local groups that are working to increase vaccine uptake.
They all agree on one thing: hyperlocal, on-the-ground outreach works. And the empirical evidence supports this approach.
Financial incentives are great, and they do a great job of ensuring a large number of people get vaccinated when they become eligible. But they don't work for everyone.
Employer vaccine requirements can help fill the gaps. At United Airlines, implementing vaccine requirements increased the vaccination rate to 99%. Chicago and Illinois have both implemented vaccine requirements for public employees – keeping children and others in the care of public workers safe.
But among the vaccine hesitant, many want more time to wait and see if the vaccine works. And many just want to talk to someone who can answer their questions. By funding and empowering community leaders and individuals to do hyperlocal, on-the-ground outreach, Chicago and Illinois are helping residents get the answers they need from the people they trust.
With hard work in the weeks ahead, we will keep children in schools and let families come together safely to celebrate the holidays. I look forward to hearing from our witnesses how to meet those goals by building vaccine confidence in Chicago and beyond.
Rep. Bill Foster
Thank you to the committee and my friend Congressman Krishnamoorthi for convening this hearing, and to both panels of witnesses for their participation. I'd also like to thank several organizations in attendance that have been critical to the COVID vaccination efforts in my district: the Will-Grundy Medical Clinic; VNA Health Care; and Advocate Aurora Health.
As one of two PhD scientists in Congress, I always look to research and data when making decisions. And the decision to get vaccinated is one place the data couldn't be more clear: All three FDA-approved vaccines are extremely safe and extremely effective.
How do we know? First, the vaccines were tested on primates, for whom they were over 90% effective and had no serious side effects. Then, we moved onto three different phases of human trials.
Across those three phases, between 30,000 and 50,000 people received each vaccine, and each person was monitored closely for any adverse reactions or COVID infections. Again, the vaccines proved to be up to 95% effective at preventing COVID infections, and even better at preventing hospitalizations and deaths.
If you want more evidence, even after the vaccines were approved, the FDA and pharmaceutical companies continued to closely monitor people's reactions, keeping close records of any serious side effects or infections that occurred. To date, 431 million shots have been administered in the U.S. If these shots were dangerous, we would know it by now. And if they didn't work, we would know.
But in fact, this extensive data has shown the opposite. Though it is still possible for someone who is vaccinated to catch COVID-19 or pass it on, unvaccinated people are 6 times more likely to get the disease and, depending on the study, 11 to 20 times more likely to die from it than a vaccinated person. Our hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID patients right now, and more than 95% of them are unvaccinated.
And as far as safety, after tracking millions of vaccination outcomes, the only common side effect is a sore arm and perhaps a day of flu symptoms. This certainly isn't fun, but neither is spending a month on a ventilator.
But everyone on the two panels before us already agrees with these conclusions. So what we're here to do is figure out how to effectively communicate these data and statistics and ultimately get shots in arms.
Our local health departments and their partner organizations in the southwest suburbs have been working around the clock to get our neighbors vaccinated. We've seen the Will County and DuPage County Health Departments, among others, run highly successful vaccination campaigns for our communities of color. I'm incredibly grateful for their dedication, and I look forward to hearing what further support we can give them to get us across the finish line.
Thank you, and I yield back.
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