Andrew Kolodny, the co-director of the Opioid Policy Research Collaborative at Brandeis. Vaccination In 2020, Moderna slowed enrollment in its COVID-19 vaccine testing for the purpose of increasing representation of minorities. In Phase 1a, vaccination eligibility was extended solely to public health workers and residents of long-term care facilities. 60% of public health workers were white. 75% of long-term care facility residents were white. Prior to the September 2020 announcement, 20% of enrollees were Hispanic/Latino and 7% were black. At Pfizer, 25% of enrollees were Hispanic or nonwhite, including 8% who were black. A government representative cited "historical abuse", "present racial injustices and health care disparities", and "recent social unrest (and) the faltering economy" as factors impeding recruitment of blacks. Health care workers Minority representation in medicine It is estimated that minority populations will represent about half the U.S. population by 2050 which means that there will be a crucial need for more representation in medicine. Studies have shown that having a diverse physician workforce is essential for the future of health care because minority students are more likely to provide health services to underserved communities. A 2012 study done in California found that physicians from minority backgrounds were more likely to practice in underserved or areas of health shortages than their white counterparts, no matter what their specialty. When looking more into the study, it was discovered that doctors from minority backgrounds were more likely to work in underserved areas because many of them grew up in those same underserved communities and saw many of the health disparities that existed. As a result, they looked at working in underserved communities to give back. Other research has also shown that representation of minorities in the healthcare workforce has many positive influences such as healthcare access for underserved demographics, better cultural effectiveness between healthcare providers, and new medical research that includes all individuals of the population Trends in admission An area of where this representation needs to happen really begins in the admissions offices of professional schools such as nursing, medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. According to Cheney (2019), the number of students from underrepresented backgrounds applying to professional medical schools has increased, but this increase has not been enough to keep up with the rapidly increasing minority population. Overall, the numbers of underrepresented minority medical school students such as African Americans, Hispanics, and American Indians, or Alaska Natives enrollees increased slightly.