With an eye toward 70% of U.S. adults receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose by July 4, President Joe Biden on Wednesday \u2026<\/b>
\nWith an eye toward 70% of U.S. adults receiving at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose by July 4, President Joe Biden on Wednesday announced a monthlong effort to encourage more Americans to roll up their sleeves for a shot. \u00ab\u00a0The more people we get vaccinated, the more success we\u2019re going to have in the fight against this virus,\u201d he said during remarks at the White House, adding that the U.S. could see a dramatically different summer from last year. \u00ab\u00a0A summer of freedom. A summer of joy. A summer of get-togethers and celebrations.\u00a0\u00bb As part of his June \u00ab\u00a0month of action,\u00a0\u00bb Biden announced \u00ab\u00a0Shots at the Shop,\u00a0\u00bb an initiative bringing together 1,000 Black-owned barbershops and beauty salons across the nation to serve as vaccination locations. The effort will be modeled after Health Advocates In-Reach and Research (HAIR), said program founder Stephen Thomas, director of the University of Maryland\u2019s Center for Health Equity. Along with the center, the administration will collaborate with the Black Coalition Against COVID and SheaMoisture to support the effort in communities of color, hard hit by disproportionate COVID-19 hospitalizations and deaths. The announcement comes two weeks after USA TODAY’s reporting on HAIR and its vaccination effort at The Shop Spa in Hyattsville, Maryland. With vaccination rates in communities of color lagging in many states, the network is combating vaccine hesitancy and access obstacles by offering shots right at the shops. \u00ab\u00a0Whether cause and effect, serendipity, coincidence \u2013 I don’t know, but after that (vaccination) event on March 17th and your coverage, I got the… email,\u00a0\u00bb Thomas told USA TODAY Wednesday. HAIR has been aiming to fight health disparities by transforming the barbershops and beauty salons into health and wellness hubs, leveraging the trust and significance they have in Black communities. The idea, Thomas said, is \u201cyou don\u2019t have to be tethered to a hospital\u201d to access good health care. \u201cThis big push to recognize the barbershops and beauty salons in Black and brown communities as assets to be mobilized is just a blessing,\u201d Thomas said. \u201cI could not be more excited and ecstatic.\u201d For the past decade, Thomas has been collaborating with Black barbers and stylists throughout Maryland’s Prince George’s County, training them to become community health advocates and provide health education to customers to transform the shops into health education hubs. Stylists promote health surveys and screenings essential to detecting disparate outcomes in Black populations \u2013 from colorectal cancer to blood pressure screenings. And at the start of the pandemic, HAIR offered coronavirus tests for barbers, stylists and customers. Leading up to the pilot COVID-19 vaccination event at HAIR\u2019s anchor salon, the team held Zoom town halls with barbers and stylists during which medical experts addressed concerns about the vaccine. Building on their status as trusted messengers, they then passed on the information to their clients. Katrina Randolph owns Tr\u00e9 Shadez hair studio in Capitol Heights, Maryland, part of HAIR’s network of 10 Black-owned hair studios. \u201cI\u2019m super excited,\u201d Randolph said after Biden’s announcement. \u201cI\u2019m really overwhelmed just to see the amazing feedback and see the change in individuals being able to go from \u2018No, I don\u2019t want the vaccine,\u2019 to be able to trust what I say and get vaccinated.\u201d \u00ab\u00a0We\u2019re the closest things to a doctor and nurse, so why not be a part of this network while being behind your chair?\u00a0\u00bb she added. Thomas is a scholar on the long-term effects of the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis Study, a federally funded experiment on unsuspecting Blacks with syphilis, and Black participation in public health research. He’s also conducted research through the HAIR network’s salons to understand factors behind lower flu immunization rates in Black adults and communication strategies to improve them. It’s been his dream to replicate and expand the program to other salons. \u201cThis is nothing short of a blessing,\u201d he said. \u201cWhat this does is finally acknowledge that even in the most destitute neighborhoods, even in the neighborhoods that look blighted\u2026 there is still hope.\u201d Reach Nada Hassanein at nhassanein@usatoday.com or on Twitter @nhassanein_.<\/p>\n