Facilitator Robin Roberts on the Serena Williams Effect

Supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Horizon Foundation, Understanding Diverse Communities and Supporting Equitable and Informed COVID-19 Vaccination Decision-Making included three waves of Community Conversations with Native American, Latinx, African American and Asian American community members. It focused on how public health and other stakeholders can best understand and support Covid-19 vaccine decision-making. 

 

Robin Roberts served as senior facilitator for African-American communities. He explains, “What [Serena Williams effect] means is that in this middle-class group of black prioritizes, it became clear that even if you were famous, even if you were wealthy, even if you're an athlete, you know, your body better than most of us will ever know our bodies, you can still go in the hospital, complain of side effects and have them look ignored to the extent that you have health complications.”