Coronavirus Crisis Update: Dr. Alisha Kramer, the “New Normal” is “Not So Normal”

Dr. Alisha Kramer, a CSIS alum and young doctor serving poor, black, pregnant women in Atlanta hospitals, rejoins us for a second podcast. One year into the pandemic, a “new normal” has arisen that is still jarring, a “disconnect” in the changes in medical practice. Vaccine hesitancy is a “shocking” matter among nursing staff. Black persons “have every right to be distrustful” of the health system. If we give the “microphone back to the experts… based on the science,” if we rely on neighbor to neighbor communications, trust will return. We have not yet learned much about Covid-19 infection in pregnant women. It is up to the pregnant individual and her provider to determine whether to go ahead with a vaccine. Her thoughts on her husband Jonathan Ossoff’s successful quest for a Senate seat? “We can all agree 2020 has been incredibly surreal.” Black women in Georgia carried the day.

Dr. Alisha Kramer, a revered former colleague at the CSIS Global Health Policy Center, graduated in 2019 from Emory University School of Medicine. She is currently a resident specializing in obstetrics and gynecology at Atlanta public and private hospitals.