Our Chicago: Voices of the Community town hall on COVID and the vaccine in the Latinx community

CHICAGO (WLS) -- ABC 7, Chicago's Number One station for news, presented a virtual town hall examining COVID-19 and the vaccine in the Latino community with Illinois Unidos. ABC 7 Eyewitness News Anchor Tanja Babich moderated OUR CHICAGO: VOICES OF THE COMMUNITY available on abc7chicago.com Thursday, January 28 at 2:00 PM.

Illinois Unidos was formed over 10 months ago to help educate and provide resources to Latino communities. A notable consortium of academics, policy and health professionals, they are tackling the problems of disproportionate numbers of COVID-19 cases in the Latino community and the prevalence of misinformation about the vaccine. Tanja Babich talked to them about Vaccine Corps, a partnership they joined to educate, combat mistrust and encourage vaccinations in the Latino community.

Babich also explored the genesis of Illinois Unidos and the specifics of their goals. What are the biggest challenges? What are they hearing from their interactions in the community? What are they doing to address the inequities brought to bear during this pandemic in the Latino community?

Guest panelists included:

- Dr. Marina Del Rios, University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine

- Dr. Geraldine Luna, Chicago Department of Public Health

- Dr. Melissa Simon, Northwestern Hospital

- Esther Corpuz, Alivio Medical Center

- Miguel Blancarte, Jr., Esperanza Health Centers

The virtual town hall was exclusively streamed live on ABC 7's Facebook Live, YouTube, ABC 7's app, and ABC 7's connected TV apps on Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Android TV and Roku.

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About ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago

ABC7/WLS-TV Chicago is the No. 1 local news source and most-watched television station in Chicago. With top-rated daily newscasts spanning decades and the largest social media presence in the market with more than 2.3 million Facebook followers, ABC7 Eyewitness News provides breaking news, investigative reporting, weather, politics, traffic and sports in the multiplatform space to Chicago, the suburbs and northwest Indiana. Named Best News Operation by the Associated Press for four consecutive years, the station produces 41 hours of local news weekly and Chicago's only local weekday entertainment talk show, "Windy City LIVE," as well as its highest-rated New Year's Eve special. ABC7's award-winning programs such as "Heart and Soul," "The Ñ Beat" and "Asian Influences" showcase the city's diversity, while being the only Chicago station producing and broadcasting parades representing Chicago's rich cultural history. In addition to producing town halls focused on current social issues, the station has a long and proud tradition of broadcasting political candidate debates keeping Chicago's electorate informed. ABC7's outreach efforts include annual partnerships with the Red Cross for life-saving blood drives and, most recently, spearheading an effort to raise more than $1.5 million for area food pantries.