[inaudible conversations] good afternoon and welcome to washington national cathedral. and and on behalf of this wonderful institution to this event. this is a house of prayer for all people and i'm honored to stand this afternoon with many of our brothers and sisters from a variety of different faith traditions. our various traditions unique and special as they are have numerous things in common, whether it's expressed to do unto others as you would have others do unto you or that which you want to are yourself seek for mankind or love your neighbor as yourself. this mutual regard and rest prosecutorsy is fundamental to the vast majority of faith traditions. as such what could be more appropriate than to gather and all people to make sure that they get vaccinated not only to protect themselves from covid-19, but to help protect others from the terrible disease by increasing levels of immunity in the population and helping to slow the mutations of this virus that have caused so many even more infectious viernts. as people of faith, we stand together or sit together as the point may be to send a clear message. these vaccines are a great blessing. they are a great blessing. take advantage of that blessing and we need to encourage others to do the same. so thank you for being with us and in a few minutes we'll have some brief remarks from some special guests that i would like to thank for being here and introduce to you. the first is melissa rogers, who is the executive director of the white house office of faith-based and neighborhood partnerships. so glad she's with us. dr. prez who is director of nih's national institute's minority health and health disparate. dr. francis collins, the director of nih and the man who needs no introduction, dr. anthony fauci of the national institute of disease. i want to thank them. [applause]. again, we're so thrilled you're here with us and thanks to those jurisdictions to support and give vaccines, it seems to me to be an incredible blessing from god that we're able to get this altogether. so thank you. now, i'll turn this over to the man who not only thought of today's event, but whose very hard work made it possible. the dr. reverend hamlin who is our cathedral's canon missioner. leonard. >> thank you. over the past year with the community, spirit, compassion, justice, and a host of other work has been elevated in our vocabulary, the words are significant, but they have power only when they're connected to our actions. this evening we have gathered in this space recognizing the challenge of this moment about you we've come together embracing the opportunities that are in front of us. it is important that we encourage everyone who is able to get vaccinated. faith leaders, medical chiefs. managers, regional officials are all here defined by the demographics that often divide us, but we are here embracing the truth that unites us, a truth that is probably characterized best in words that i've always heard growing up, that because of our-- ahead of us is not as great as the power that is behind us. so i remind us on today of the words of robert frost that said two roads diverged in a woods and i took the one less traveled by and that has made the difference. today we have come together that we might make a difference in the moment in which lives are at stake and we recognize today that everyone needs to be counted. and so the words of one who has-- was lifted here years ago that we know well. it's true as martin luther king, jr. said in a real sense, all life is interrelated. all men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality. tied in a single garment of destiny. what affects one directly affects all indirectly. we're all in this together and so i'm thankful today to recognize the faces that are on the platforms. that are representing the medical community, faith community, as well as even the educational community. and on this day, aid he i'd like to recognize and say thank you to county executive mark he will rich of montgomery county maryland. say thank you to dr. george askew, deputy chief administration officer for health and human services education, prince georges county, maryland. dr. joseph wright, chief medical officer of university of maryland capital health region. and the senior deputy director district of columbia department of health. i'd like to give a special thanks to the reverend thomas bowen, the mayor's ofls of religious affairs in district of columbia who did heavy lifting to help the cathedral to live its mission, the washington national cathedral. i'd like to say thank you to dr. ruben, the public health director of arlington county, virginia. councilman of the city council. the dean of howard university college of medicine and vice-president of clinical affairs. dr. shelly mcdonald pinkett, the interim compare of internal medicine and chief medical officer of howard university hospital. michael crawford, associate dean of strategy, outreach at howard university you've heard many names as well as different communities represented, but today we come as one because the only way to achieve success in this moment is by our reaching across and working together. there is an old african proverb that says if you want to go fast go alone, but if you want to go far, go together. today we go together. >> good evening, everyone. i'd like to thank national cathedral for organizing this terrific event tonight and for inviting us to participate. this is one great example of a partnership between government and faith-based organizations and as president biden has recognized, faith-based organizations can play key roles in helping americans get vaccinated. let me mention just a few reasons government should work with interested religious leaders and faith-based organizations on vaccination efforts. first, houses of worship are pervasive and familiar with many americans. countless americans are far more comfortable getting their shot in a house of worship than in a pharmacy or a doctor's office. second, religious figures are among the most trusted community leaders. so seeing congregational leaders get vaccinated first can relief anxiety and fears. the third reason why government and faith-based organizations should work together in this task is that faith-based organizations are often highly skilled at reaching underserved people, indeed, congressional leaders haven't simply turned over their buildings for use as vaccination sites, they're managing the phones to get people vaccinated. they're providing transportation to vaccination sites and doing so many other things to make this task one that is doable for everyone. fourth, the vast majority of religious leaders are enthusiastic about helping the country get vaccinated. many clergy have emphasized for example, that getting the vaccine is a way of loving our neighbors. fifth, governmental partnerships with faith leaders to promote public health are permitted, not prohibited by our constitution. and indeed, partnerships with diverse faith communities can be a powerful affirmation of our pluralism and our unity across our differences and background and beliefs. so for some, governmental partnerships with faith-based organizations can and should be part of the solution to the covid-19 challenge. as president biden has so often said, there's nothing that americans can't do when we do it together. thank you. >> good afternoon. i'm francis collins, the director of the national institutes of health which we sometimes like to call the national institutes of hope and i'm certainly here in a hopeful way today. looking up at that stained glass window in the twilight reminds me i have a copy of that in my home office where i've essentially been a hermit for the last 12 months trying to manage the largest institute in the world and i am he glad to be here with leaders of multiple faiths. let us all recognize the last year has been one of struggle and of lament for all of us. and yet, we now have reasons for hope. as a believer and a scientist, i can see the opportunity to use the tools of science as a chance to be part of god's plan for healing. the vaccines have in many ways for many people been an answer to prayer. they are safe and effective beyond what we had a right to expect. and yet, they will not help people by sitting on the shelf and they need to be injected into the arms of those who need them. unfortunately, many who could most benefit because they are at highest risk of serious and even life threatening infections, are still holding back, worried about stories they hear, skeptical, unimpressed by how government has previously shown interest in their medical care. skeptical. the church can play a leading role by educating, modeling and encouraging. there's nothing to fear here and there's much to be gained. that's what we are here to do today. houses of worship are houses of hope, here on this hill, the national cathedral represents that. and, yes, we all need hope at this time, but hope alone is not a strategy. today all of you are putting hope into action. hope for an end to the terrible suffering and loss of life from covid-19. hope for an end to the economic devastation it has caused. hope that the vaccine cannot only protect you, but also if we do this together, your family, your friends, your community, your nation, your whole world, this is a love your neighbor opportunity to spread that hope far and wide. the jewish tradition has a metaphor of our community, the community is like a ship. but if there's a hole in the lower hold of the ship, one does not say only the lower hold has a hole in it, rather, all must recognize the risk of sinking, so everyone works to repair that breach. in order for us to get through this challenge of covid-19, we must work together to repair any breaches that might allow that virus to continue its terrible tragedy around us. all of us working together. so my deepest thanks to all who have gathered here and all who are listening, the other remarkable people on the platform for joining in this plan to repair any breaches in our ship of vaccine healing. thank you very much. >> good evening, my name is tony fauci and i'm the director of the national institutes of allergies and infectious diseases at the national institutes of health. i first wanted to underscore all the important points made by my colleague and friend dr. francis collins, but i'd also like to spend my couple of minutes talking to you a little bit about the facts and some of the fiction associated with vaccines. how do these vaccines work? i often get asked that question by people who understandably want to learn more about what it is that is being injected into their arm. vaccines that we have for covid-19 all have one thing in common, it takes a single protein of the virus, not the whole virus, and that protein gets expressed in different ways, depending upon what particular vaccine platform that is being used in the vaccine that you will have. some have a little snippet of messenger rna that codes for the protein, the spike protein on the virus. others are little harmless viruses that have the dna for that spike protein when you inject it in it makes the protein. the body thinks that it's the virus, but it's not the virus, it's a harmless protein component of the virus so that when the body sees that, it thinks it's the virus, and it makes a very powerful immune response to protect you for when you do get exposed to the virus. so how do we know these vaccines work? we know they work because they've been tested in tens of thousands of individuals. 30,000 people in the moderna trial. 44,000 people in the pfizer trial and 40,000 people in the johnson & johnson or j&j trial and there's more to come because there are also more vaccine candidates that we are evaluating. a common question we get asked is how can you be sure that it's actually safe and effective? and the answer is, because they've been tested in tens of thousands of people and the decision about whether it works, namely is safe and effective is not made by the administration, not made by the congress, not made by the form suit cal -- pharmaceutical company, it's made by an independent group of scientists, ethicists and those in an independent manner decide whether it's safe and effective. then their data goes to the fda whose career scientists look at it and in association with their own advisory committee make a decision whether or not it should be administered to all of us, myself included. ... . another important question is, knowing it takes years to make a vaccine, how could you possibly have a vaccine when you just knew the virus was a new virus in january 2020, and 11 months later you are injecting a vaccine into her arms? the reason is the extraordinary scientific advances that have taken place decades before january 2020. in other words, things did not in other words, things didn't start on january 10, 2020. they started decades before by large numbers of scientists who were working their way to the point where we could actually have this vaccine. let me close by making a couple of comments about some of the myths about this particular vaccine, that we can understand how people can have these kinds of false rumors, but let's address them. we often get asked can you get covid-19 from the vaccine? as i just told you, the vaccine is a small component of the virus. it's not the virus itself, so it is impossible to get covid-19 from the vaccine. secondly, does it get into my dna? it is biologically impossible for that to happen. can it make me sterile? there is no biological reason at all to think that that would happen, and already tens of thousands of people have received the vaccine with no significant adverse events. and then the one that is meticularly interesting to is that no, neither i, and i believe i can speak for bill gates, have put a chip into the virus when it gets injected in you. that might seem ludicrous, but there reallyer are things as ridiculous as that that are being circulated. so i want you all to realize that this particular process is very well controlled with the highest standard of ethics. so i want to close by thanking all of the people who have been vaccinated, as well as those who plan to get vaccinated. because what you were doing is not only protecting yourselves, your families and your communities, but you are being taught of important process of ending this terrible pandemic that has essentially immobilized our country and the world for the last year. we will get through this and we will get through it by vaccination. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is -- i am the director of the national institute on minority health and health disparities and it is a real honor to be here to talk to you today for a few couple of minutes it have recently read the washingtonre cathedral was a place where dr. martin luther king, jr. gave his last sunday sermon just a few days before he was a snatch sedated -- assassinated in memphis. i thought it washe fitting to support and encourage all of our communities, commutes of color to do what we can do to be safe and help in s this pandemic that has devastated so many families in this country and in the globe. covid-19. in pandemic has illustrated inequities in our society that we knew about for decades but really have been put in contrast in a rapid way. in just a year, over 500,000 americans have died. over 50% of all cases and almost half of all deaths are in persons of african-american, latino, is them -- hispanic background, or pacific islanders. the risk is greater because there's more disease, more diabetes, more obesity, more heart disease, but the reality is that the infections are more likely because people live get more crowded conditions. they work in jobs that do not allow the privilege of telework. they cannot self-isolate at home because two families, three generations, one bathroom. these are structural realities of the population. in addition, many do not have computers, they depend on their cell phone for access to information, and therefore reaching this population has become more of a challenge. this risk of economic inequality, educational inequality, and occupational differences is what leads to these disparities. at nih and other institutes, our response has been that we need to address this by connecting with our communities. we have established a program called community engage against covid-19 alliance. with my colleague, dr. gary gibbons, who could not be here today, from the national heart and blood institute. dr. fauci laid out all this in -- misinformation that is circulating out there and it is everywhere. all communities are exposed to this. our response is we need to address this misinformation directly with facts, simple facts, not jargon, based on data, based on science, and to promote trust in science. we have lost this. we have not been ahead of this misinformation, and it is time that we started to do more of that. both in terms of the infection of how it is transmitted but also on the vaccine issue once it is out and we have certainly focused on that. this needs to be delivered by trusted messengers. you as space-based -- faith-based leaders are really critical in this effort. much like local physicians, nurses, other health care workers and other trusted leaders in our communities. we have a lot of faith that our initiative will make a difference in the states that we have launched it and we continue to work on expanding it. and turned towards vaccine uptake, really creating the structures to promote and make it easy for people to get vaccinated such as an event like this and other houses of worship opening up to being vaccinated. i want to just close by saying that i'm confident that this effort is going to make a difference. i think all of us are eager to be able to again see our loved ones and share with people in person, not zoom. i was vaccinated myself a little over two weeks ago. i got my second shot. i went through the website. it was not easy but i got it done. the easier we can make it as we get more and more people vaccinated, the better we will be. thanks, everyone, for being here, for organizing this. it really is important for all of us to be together to work towards a better future. thank you. >> episcopal diocese of washington. after hearing such important remarks from our scientific, medical, and governmental communities, and in the presence of such esteemed colleagues in faith, i'm honored to close this portion of our gathering in prayer. may we begin by simply calling to mind all those we lost. and those who suffer. and we thank you, gracious god, for all who have worked so tirelessly to bring this scourge of coven -- covid-19 to this land and around the world to an end. we lament the antiquities and justices -- inequities and justices that have caused so many to suffer needlessly, and we pray that this effort, along with others, will help overcome some of the disparities that have divided us. let this vaccination effort be our event to create justice in our society and health care system and to restore the trust that is so needed for us to move forward. may those who have dared to go first befall her by those who go second and followed by those who are third, fourth, and fifth, so that we might, by our example of courage might encourage others to be brave and do the thing that scares us but also allows us to be part of this great journey toward restored life. all this we ask in the gracious name of god. amen. [applause] [chatter] >> thank you for doing this here. >> we have been administering pfizer since mid-january in our vaccine clinic. [chatter] [inaudible conversations] [inaudible conversations] >> all right, how about that? [laughing] >> today on c-span2 starting at 10:30 a.m. eastern the senate resumes consideration of the nomination of katherine tai to the u.s. trade representative and later the nomination of xavier becerra to be the next secretary of health and human services. watch live coverage here on c-span2. >> thursday national institutes of allergy and infectious diseases director dr. anthony fauci in cdc director dr. rochelle walensky testified with other federal officials on the covid-19 response. watch live at 10 a.m. eastern on c-span3 come on minus c-span.org or listen live with the free c-span radio app. >> you are watching c-span2, your unfiltered view of government. c-span2 was created by amicus cable-television companies and today we are brought to you by these television companies who provide c-span2 to viewers as a public service. >> yesterday senate minority leader mitch mcconnell spoke in favor of the senate filibuster as some democratic senators call for changes which would either lower limit the required 60 votes threshold are passing legislation. mr. president, today i would like to begin with a few quotations.s. quote, the legislative filibuster is the most important distinction between the senate and the house. without the 60-vote threshold for legislation, the senate becomes the majority area