Covid-19 has impacted our d in ways that we could not e considered in February of 0 over 700,000 deaths have bn recorded just here in Amer.

Minorities are twice as liy to die from Covid-19.

There are many factors that contribute to the high percentage of fatalities ad the minority community, maf which we will discuss toda.

Hello, I'm Pastor Phillip Davis, the host of Courages Conversations.

Thank you for joining us.

Joining me today on the prm are Dr Yolanda Lewis Ragla, MD She's a double board certified physician in pediatrics and obesity medicine.

She's the owner and CEO of Family Fitness and Wellnesr Community Health, the authf many books but most recenty released Navigating the Tre Pandemic Volume one Healthe workers of color confront racism in America, Health Disparities in medicine ane trauma of Covid-19 volume o navigating the triple pandc virus.

Vaccines, Facts, fictions d fears and METI Clark by dentally nurse who serves s the nursing director of surgical oncology at MedStr Washington Hospital Center.

She's the chair of the DC d of Nursing and a contributg writer in the book Navigatg the Triple Pandemic.

Don't go anywhere.

We'll see you in a second.

Hayden Mitman.

Thank you so much for joing me today.

Welcome back to Courageous Conversations.

It's been about a year sine you've been on the show.

Actually, we were on talkig about voting.

It seems like, you know, leading up to the election where President Biden and e President Kamala Harris wee elected to the presidential office.

So welcome back.

Thank you so much for Pastr Phil for having me today.

I'm super excited to be ba.

Well, thank you again.

You know, Covid has had sun impact on so many different communities, but of coursee numbers and the statisticsw that in the minority commu, as I said in the intro, wee suffered more significantly than any other community.

And I was watching, of cou, on Facebook, social media during the pandemic.

And you were reporting, you know, giving Facebook live, giving updates and you were right on the front lines dg the work.

Why was it important for yo update the community on the things that were happening?

Sal Panto feel great quest.

And again, thank you so muh for allowing me to share yr platform and I hope the listeners can appreciate wt you just said about reportg from the front lines earlyn in the pandemic pandemic.

As we all aware, there wasy what I call misinformation.

Miss communication and what I've learned in my life personally and professiona.

Most things fail because of misinformation or lack of information.

And I think for me, I was actually encouraged by a fd who was like, what's really happening?

You know, where we're mass, we're told not to wear a m. You know, we're told that e can go to the store, that e can't go to the store.

And so really I wanted to provide real life experiens that I was experiencing asa nurse who worked for 18 wes straight, literally Sunday through Saturday without ay off.

I was leading a team.

I was managing their own fs as well as my own fears and trepidations about the pandemic.

And so I really wanted to e that opportunity to share t was actually happening dayy day.

Wow, that's amazing.

I wanted to really just kif dig in there.

Dr Yolanda is with us.

So we're so glad.

Doc, thank you.

We know you are right on te front line.

Still coming to us from the job.

So we wanted to take some e and thank you first for jog us and coming into our livg room, if you will, to share about your experiences.

Now, you've written two bos specifically around Covid navigating the triple pandc volumes one and two.

What was your inspiration?

And for Value one, let's tk about that.

What was your inspiration r Volume one?

And what drove you to to we the book again?

Thank you for having me and just thank you for recognig I think that we have a stoo tell, have many stories to tell.

And so the inspiration for Volume one was really my on trauma, my own stress of bg here on the front lines and recognizing that I was shog up in my white coat and skn and it was very traumatic.

Yeah, Right after the Floyd killing, after a lot of ten that was kind of pouring ot into the streets from a Mot Carbon we're on a Taylor.

There was a lot that I was feeling and I recognize tht this is a triple pandemic.

We were one we were dealing with the pandemic.

We were dealing with it.

But we were also dealing wh all of the racial tensionse racism that really affectee disparity is that we were , our communities, which thet was more susceptible to co. OK, we were overburdened, overworked, trying to showp in our communities and at e same time we were feeling r own trauma.

And so as a health care wo, I began exploring that for myself really initially and conversations, others who d me I wasn't alone, I was te only one who was experiencg this.

And a true story is that I actually sat a mental healh specialist with a black won decided I really need to tk about this.

I knew I had PTSD from watg Joseph Roy die before my es and I was starting to I wod see my son, a 19 year old , and I could see him as a bk male at the hands of polic.

And so there are always ths going on and I asked for someone and a black woman I thought, OK, this is someoe who's going to be able to really empathize.

And the truth is it was probably more empathy thanI need it.

I started and I Tom Wolf al the time ten minutes into e interview, I'm not sure you would have known who the patient was because as I s, this is what I'm feeling s, you know me too.

And as health care workersd as someone who usually liss to others, tell me what's wrong.

I found myself allowing heo share as well and as commiserating and sympathig and empathizing with each other.

I realized that most of ust were in White coats and blk skin were experiencing this thing a little differently.

I mean, just to be able toe the force to describe, if u will, or to write to engage other individuals in that e to create a document TELESR story that could help and empower because, you know,o the triple pandemic, not including the fact that the was all of this racial tenn going on and it just perme.

But you all still had to sw up.

You still had to get to the hospital.

You still had to serve your community.

And at the same time you're dealing with your own emotl struggles.

So, wow, kudos to you.

Now, Meti Nurse Meti was of the contributors.

And so what was it like fou needed to be able to contre to this very powerful work.

And I believe there were multiple contributors to te book.

What was it like for you meeting ta ta ta to share d to be able to write your experience so far?

This is an opportunity thaI actually have to publicly k my sister, my sister in Ch, my sorority sister, my Howd University sister, Dr Louis Brad Klein, to say thank yu for allowing me to reflect Pastor Feel it was an opportunity that she and I shared while we were having local discussions here.

We were panelist's at a mar place of faith in Washingt, DC where we met she and I o worked at a huge vaccinatin clinic in Ward eight, whics here located here in Washington, DC And Yolandad asked me, Meti, I want to r more of your story.

And it was a great opportuy when she asked and told me everything about what we nd to do and when our chapters need to be written.

And when I actually sat don my house I remember it wase one night actually was 12 o'clock Allentown never tod you this and I sat downstas and I really started to thk about my own personal experience says and as she indicated, I too started getting very emotional.

I contracted Covid.

I share that story.

I'm a nurse leader.

So I had to manage the feaf my own team.

I too have a young son who5 years old and as she alludo earlier, reflecting on the racial tensions that we fet last year going.

And we continue to feel and particularly managing and raising a 15 year old son.

So it was very cathartic.

It was very inspirational.

At the same time, I was prd of myself and I also was ae to dig deep down and find e resilience and fortitude to continue to fight.

And I'm grateful that she allowed us and my other few contributing authors to she our story because what I've learned in all of this pandemic, Castroville, if nothing else, is that the messenger is just as import as the message.

And I think that's what wee learned during this pandem.

So I'm grateful to be ableo share my message to your listening audience today.

That super powerful.

Thank you so much.

I mean, the convergence ofl that was happening and I sd to someone just last week,I said, you know, if it had t been for a pandemic, I dont think America would have sd down long enough to really understand and see it is at like the perfect storm.

And there was these these murders essentially that lp to this explosion.

But there was something vey powerful that came out of .

Now, Dr Yolanda, I'm goingo come back to me in a minut, but how many contributors participated in you know, m what disciplines did they t they come?

I'm very proud, actually vy excited to announce.

So at this point in terms f health care workers, theree been 27 I'm sorry.

There have been 37.

Wow.

And I am in the process of doing volume three.

I'd like to have that done hopefully by the end of the year and so that I can pos0 authors by the end of 2021d have health care workers.

And then I did a special edition recently that we're publishing and I did one fr educators and it's trafficd navigating a pandemic Educs edition because I recognize that as we are entering bak into schools, our our teac, our principals, teachers as are experiencing some of wt we were experiencing, recognizing people have toe back to your space and to o pivot and do things differently.

There's a lot of fear and anxiety about the vaccine, about children and I'm a pediatrician.

So we've been affected very we've been bombarded by pediatric cases.

240 percent increase of Cod cases for children, childr.

We have children that are g of Covid.

There's a particular syndr, multi inflammatory syndromf children we come to see tht occurs and it occurs more n in children of color and American children.

And I just state that the g we've been talking about ts pandemic now as a pediatri, I'm watching a four pandemc that is occurring are epidc at this point.

But with all of the dying t is occurring mostly black d brown communities, we're actually leaving more more often than not, orphans.

Well, so whereas 23% of American children are led y single parent homes in the African American communitys 62%.

So if 62% led by single pa, single parent let homes anu lose a parent, it is devastating.

Absolutely.

This is something that is affecting our children much more than all children.

The fact that it affects ay child is devastating.

But the problem now is that what we're seeing is with e comorbidities, as I tell y, you know, you may survive , cold if you come out possiy with hypertension, diabete, some other comorbidities.

We were already susceptiblo We have more chronic diseas a result of surviving fromt or we don't survive and we leave orphaned children.

And so it is become somethg that I'm very passionate at looking into a different professions even that have been, I think disproportionately affectey it.

Well, thank you for that.

I mean, considering that te problem is going to be a lg lasting problem, it's not t Covid is over in.

The numbers are declining.

There is there's going to a lasting impact on it.

Now, I wanted to do someth.

I wanted to have Meti justd an excerpt from her sectio.

And I believe that your sen in the book was leading, managing and surviving a Pandemic, A Nurses Journey.

Can you just give us a lite snippet if you could or an insight into how you were e to write and what you wrote down?

Absolute Pastor fill the hardest call I had to make during this pandemic was ty own family.

I had to call my husband wo took several moments of sie after hearing the news of e being positive with Covid-9 and he then responded withe gentle, Are you OK?

He reassured me everythings going to be all right as I prepare to come home only o quickly pack a bag and to n my quarantine away from my family.

And I ended my chapter.

Pastor Phil with this my ld experience, my knowledge ay expertize makes me qualifi.

This pandemic has touched y single community and the ln for all of us is that we dt need to be rich or famous o make an impact.

All we need is the will and desire to help others.

We must see ourselves as lg in a global community, carg for one another, sharing wh each other for the greaterd of us all because in the ed that is when we all become heroes.

Wow.

Well, that that's impactfud being on the front lines ad serving and watching the it of Covid and then having yr own lived experience, havio walk through it.

What was that like for you?

If you can just kind of gie some insight into it and tn ultimately you had to enter back into that space to continue to serve once youe able to get through it?

Absolutely.

Pastor Phil, so, you know,t was quite frankly, very traumatic.

The most difficult time ofy life outside of Luzerne personal family members was sitting in a hotel room thy of the insurrection when Is asked on your show, we spoe about me becomin a presidential electoral is w blocks away downtown from l the mayhem that was taking place in our nation's capi.

Now only praying to God thI live.

I knew that I'm a healthy person.

I had no multiple comorbid.

I was running and exercisis every day as a place to key mental sanity anyway.

And here I am after all ofs time of all of my advocacyl of my sharing of my storie, preaching and telling evere to be safe.

Now I get it even though between my two doses and st was very it was very sullef a very sullen time.

But I kept faith.

I'm grateful for my familyd friends and those who helpe get through those ten daysf being secluded, literally t having sunshine touched mye and sitting in a hotel room with all the amenities thaI had.

It was still very nerve racking.

And so and then I came outf it, passed Orefield being diagnosed with hypertensio, which I never had before.

And so Dr Eulogist shared.

I did have that post Covid syndrome, a lot of fatiguef having hypertension.

And I'm now fighting mighty to get off the blood presse medications that I had to e placed on because my blood pressure was at stroke lev, which I did not happy for Covid.

And so again, as I shared o you earlier, the messengers as important as the messag.

So for anyone who was watcg your show, I added fiercelo please contact your healthe provider about getting the vaccine.

If you have not had it, ple make sure you're still weag your mask.

Please make sure you're stl socially distancing from ae who may not be vaccinated because the pandemic is stl here.

And that's after Yolanda alluded to.

We are still waiting to see what the impact of it wille after nearly 19 months of .

So I'm still here.

I was able to go back, stil manage my team, still fighg on the front lines.

Amazing.

What an amazing story.

And to be willing to go bak in.

Right.

And continue to do the kinf work of caring for people.

And I can't even imagine wt and many times people who e passing way who couldn't he contact with their familie.

You gave me a great Segway meeting into a conversation about vaccines because vole two, Dr Yolanda, was about vaccines, fears and myths.

So let's talk a little bit about that and how it came about and why it's so relet because all of this conversation about anti vaccines and I'm sure you covered the myths and the s in Tuskegee and all that or kind of stuff.

Can you talk a little bit t why it's important for peoe to have a deeper understang of the vaccines and why its important for folks to get vaccinated?

Absolutely.

So one things that was, I think, important for us tok about and discuss is that s black and brown health care workers, we were becoming,u know, directly, indirectly voluntary or not, experts n the vaccine why people woud come to us and ask if they didn't need to be a patien.

It was friends.

It was family members.

Anyone who knew that you wa physician or a nurse or a pharmacist, they wanted tow what you thought about reay important because one of te things that I do talk aboud a lot of the authors is tht the messenger is as importt as the message.

So here you might hear Dr , you may hear others on television promote a vacci.

But if you can't have a conversation with them, you can't ask questions.

If you can't relate or you don't trust that person, tn you may not trust that information.

And so what we were findins podiatrists in dermatologye needing to become experts n the vaccine.

And so as a pediatrician, vaccines are bread and but.

To me this is something I k about all the time with parents.

I'm very familiar with the vaccine adverse effect reporting system.

I'm very familiar with side knowing exactly how the vae worked, how was developed because I knew those were e questions that were going e asked in our community.

And one of the things thate was talking about is information as a passer, yu know, our people our people perish for lack of knowled.

So information is absolutey the key.

But what we are fighting is misinformation, which mighe unfortunately the wrong information.

But then there's this information which is a purposeful and a little bit more deceitful.

Well, we can't afford thatn the black community, in the brown community because wee dying higher rate and disproportionate.

So it was very important fs to become experts if we net to to help our nurses and r pharmacists and folks in or medicine really understande vaccine and these sort of d with information and knowl.

So that we could be a comft and a source of trust becae it really is a pre requisie for changing behaviors for being compliant, for for trusting information, for believing in the vaccine.

And so most of the successI get in my clinics for takig the vaccine is having taket myself, having three child.

I have a 19-year-old, 20 t. All of them have been vaccinated.

In fact, my youngest is vaccinated at the vaccine r that I needed and I got a e meeting.

I did together right here n southeast DC and so if I'm willing to trust this, the science not just for myselt for my children, I'm sharig those stories with my patis and they realize that if Im willing to trust this for y children, I wouldn't ask tm to do anything that I woult do myself as a parent.

First because this doctor things my second my first b is mom to these three wondl children that I'm here to e sure that they're taking ce and that they're healthy.

And so most of us felt that way.

We're all coming into thiss people first as sisters and brothers, family members as trusted individual and communities and then the doctors, nurses and pharmas that we were and able to be that gap of information and trust.

And I think that makes a wd of difference.

Thank you again.

Mehdi.

Let me let me ask you whate of stories have you heard r you know, I know because ye a health professional.

People come to you and they have all kinds of conspiray theories and those type of things.

How do you how do you deconstruct that and what e of what type of?

Listen, I've heard all kinf things.

You know, we did a we did a vaccination program at the church.

We vaccinated about 300 pee at Shiloh right there in Easton.

And you know, I've got everything from it's the mt beast that I'm leading peoe like sheep to the slaughte.

People have left the church because we allow the vaccie vaccinations to have.

What have you heard as a frontline nurse, as a healh professional?

Share a little bit for ourr our folks know exactly.

You said Pastor Orefield.

I literally have heard this from those microchips thate in in there to the needle s going to get left in your m until they are tracking yo.

I have my cell phone righte not to tell people trust mf the government wants to trk you, they've done that alr.

And yeah, yesterday the wod shut down, it seemed like r what, five or six hours bee Facebook and Instagram was down.

And so now there's this hue thing.

And so I just simply tell people I've heard all of wt you just said, quite frank, that, oh, they're trying to kill black people and thenI had to share with them whyf they were right.

Let's play devil's advocate here.

Why would they kill?

Because all the health care professionals like myself d Dr Yolanda were the first s that were able to get the vaccine back in late Novemr of December of last year.

So by what the government t to kill every single health care professional, No.

One.

No.

Two, despite the fact thatr past our past president ofe United States people forgoe took the vaccine.

Folks, I had to tell them .

And so even though there wa lot of misinformation and miscommunication, people we damning.

Dr to hell, etc, etc, thatt president also took the vaccine.

Be clear.

And so was really just makg sure folks understood the important and says, Doctoru want this said I'm taking .

I still have two eyes, ten fingers, ten toes.

I'm still here.

And I think they have to forgotten people, forgotten what science is, what we ds science.

Even within nursing there a nursing science.

You test something out andn if it works great, that ift doesn't work or you need to make additional adjustment, then you reevaluate and thn you continue on.

So no one said and I have o say this Orefield no one sd the vaccine is a cure.

It reduce hospitalizations.

It reduces severe severe symptoms and it reduces de.

No one no one ever said tht the vaccine is 100% of anything.

And last I checked, 95% efficacy does not equal 10d so it was kind of be said sharing with people about getting vaccinated as soons my husband could.

He got vaccinated as soon s our children were able to o so.

And they gave that age as n as my son turned allowed 12 years old, older to get the vaccine, I literally left e work, dragged him out of te house and we went to Childs Hospital here in DC for hio get that vaccine as well.

Well, thank you so much.

You know, I never have enoh time for these conversatios and there's so much more wn cover.

But Dr Ivyland, I want to e you kind of the last word.

We got about a minute and a half left.

What would be your messageo folks that are out there ad what would you like to leae and how would you like to e an impression on them?

I think what I want to says be smart, be safe, learn fr yourself.

But don't get caught up in things.

Statements.

You need to do the research because the research has bn we have put a lot of work o this.

The research has been done.

But yes, I do understand wanting answers and finding somebody that you trust, finding someone that you ha relationship with I think s the most important thing tt you can do.

I think one of the reasonst I decided this was not a bk about doctors specifically.

I wanted this book to be at health care workers because run the gamut.

There are doctors, there ae nurses, there are pharmaci, there are A's.

There are many of us that e part of the health care sy.

And we are here and all wew and want is for people to e safe and for us to live thh this and live through thish the stories that we have to tell and lived for our chin and for other generations.

So get connected to someone that you trust.

And if you don't have anyoe find someone talk when blak doctors, Doug, is an actual