April is National Minority Health Month, and this year, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) is focusing on the disproportionate impact the COVID-19 pandemic is having on racial and ethnic minority and American Indian and Alaska Native communities and underscore the need for these vulnerable communities to get vaccinated as more vaccines become available.

This year's theme for National Minority Health Month is #VaccineReady. The focus will be to empower communities to get the facts about COVID-19 vaccines, share accurate vaccine information, participate in clinical trials, get vaccinated when the time comes and practice COVID-19 safety measures.

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Throughout February, the HHS Office of Minority Health (OMH) has celebrated the achievements of African Americans and honored the significant role and impact they have made on all facets of life and society throughout U.S. history, and the conversation will continue.

Visit the OMH website's Profile on Black/African Americans for data on heart disease, stroke, obesity, immunizations, HIV/AIDS and other diseases among the African American community. And don't forget to visit OMH's Black History Month webpage for information and resources you can use and share beyond February.  

Please join the HHS Partnership Center and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for a series of webinars about what Hispanic/Latino families and the Hispanic/Latino community need to know about the COVID-19 virus and the vaccines that will help to slow the spread and save lives. Please note that these webinars will be presented in Spanish.

• What Families Should Know About COVID-19 Vaccines, featuring the National Hispanic Pastors Alliance and the Pastor's Wives of America, February 26, 2:00 pm ET. 
• What Your Community Should Know About COVID-19 Vaccines, featuring the National Latino Evangelical Coalition, March 2, 12:00 pm ET. 

People with certain medical conditions have a higher risk of severe illness if they become infected with COVID-19. Learn more about how states are defining high-risk medical conditions in the Kaiser Family Foundation policy brief, The Next Phase of Vaccine Distribution: High-Risk Medical Conditions. 

The Rural Health Information Hub invites rural communities and healthcare providers to share ways in which you are addressing COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and distribution. Submit best practices, lessons learned and other examples to the Rural COVID-19 Innovations Collection. 

As an expectant or new parent, you might have questions or concerns about COVID-19 vaccination. For information on the COVID-19 vaccine for pregnant and lactating people, please see the March of Dimes Statement on COVID-19 Vaccination and the Every Mother Counts COVID-19 and Maternal Health Resource Hub. 

The HHS America's HIV Epidemic Analysis Dashboard (AHEAD) was created to track the progress towards the goals of the Ending the HIV Epidemic (EHE) initiative. The updated Dashboard includes new interactive features that allow you to filter data by demographics and compare HIV data across county-level EHE geographic areas. It also includes updated linkage to care and diagnosis data, as well as HIV indicator data for all 50 states.

February 28 is Rare Disease Day. Visit the National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD) website to read the NORD State Report Cards, which grade states on health policies that address issues critical to rare disease patients, and download the Rare Disease Day 2021 Information Pack. We also invite you to register for the following Rare Disease Day webinars: 

• Advancing Health Equity: A Community Conversation for Rare Disease Day, hosted by NORD, February 25, 2:00 pm ET. 
• Public Meeting: FDA Rare Disease Day 2021, hosted by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), March 5, 9:00 am ET.

As American Heart Month comes to a close, we encourage you to continue reading and sharing information on hypertension and other heart diseases.

The NIH National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute #OurHearts campaign provides videos and social media images and messages you can share with friends and family. The World Heart Federation maintains a database of hypertension resources that includes fact sheets, infographics, videos and reports. And the American Dental Association provides information for oral health professionals on the impact of hypertension on oral health and dental care.