Eseosa Osaghae ^1* Greta Sirek ² Tonya Roberson ³ Mia Chandler ⁴ Ariel Childs ⁵ Monica Crespo-Bosque ⁶ Gina Curry ⁷ Amar Dhand ⁸ Mary Dollear ⁹ Alice Eggleston ¹⁰ Nnenna Ezeh ¹¹ Dieufort Fleurissaint ¹² Denice Garrett ¹³ Gail Granville ¹⁴ Muriel Jean- Jacques ¹⁵ Elena Losina ^16,17 Holly Milaeger ¹ Lutfiyya Muhammad ¹⁸ Mary Ann Nelson ¹⁹ Chisa Nosamiefan ²⁰ Bisola Ojikutu ^17,21,22 Neil Pillai ¹ Marie Jacques Toussaint ¹² Mary Beth Son ⁴ Ana Valle ² Jessica Williams ²³ Michael York ⁶ Karen Mancera-Cuevas ²⁴ Candace Feldman ² Rosalind Ramsey-Goldman ¹

• ¹ Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
• ² Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
• ³ Governors State University College of Health and Human Services, University Park, IL, United States
• ⁴ Rheumatology Program, Boston Children’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
• ⁵ Vital CxNs, Boston, MA, United States
• ⁶ Department of Rheumatology, Boston Medical Center, Boston, MA, United States
• ⁷ Office of Community Engagement and Cancer Health Equity, Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
• ⁸ Division of Neurology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
• ⁹ Lupus Society of Illinois, Chicago, IL, United States
• ¹⁰ Alliance Chicago, Chicago, IL, United States
• ¹¹ Department of Internal Medicine and Dermatology, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
• ¹² True Alliance Center, Inc, Boston, MA, United States
• ¹³ Action for Bridgeport Community Development, Inc. (A.B.C.D., Inc.), Bridgeport, CT, United States
• ¹⁴ Mattapan Community Development Corp; Women of Courage, Boston, MA, United States
• ¹⁵ Division of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
• ¹⁶ The Orthopedic and Arthritis Center for Outcomes Research, Department of Orthopedics, Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston, MA, United States
• ¹⁷ Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
• ¹⁸ Division of Biostatistics, Department of Preventive Medicine, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL, United States
• ¹⁹ Mission Hill Health Movement Inc, Roxbury, MA, United States
• ²⁰ The Labalaba Foundation for Lupus Advocacy and Awareness, South Weymouth, MA, United States
• ²¹ Boston Public Health Commission, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
• ²² Division of Global Health Equity, Department of Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, United States
• ²³ Division of Rheumatology, Department of Medicine, Emory School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, United States
• ²⁴ National Health Council, Department of Health Equity, Washington, D.C., United States

Despite the efficacy of the COVID-19 vaccine in reducing mortality and illness severity, racial inequities in vaccination uptake persist. Among individuals with rheumatologic conditions who are often immunocompromised, the impact of disparities in preventive care threatens to widen existing inequities in adverse outcomes related to COVID-19 infection. There exists an urgent need to develop interventions that reduce COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy and promote vaccine uptake. We leveraged long-standing community-academic partnerships in two cities to develop a curriculum that will be part of an intervention to decrease COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy within Black communities. We describe the collaborative efforts that resulted in the creation of two interactive virtual curricula with similar core content but different theoretical lenses. One lens uses a racial justice approach to acknowledge the effects of historical and current structural racism on vaccine hesitancy, the other utilizes a traditional biomedical lens. In a future trial, we will compare the efficacy of these curricula to empower Black individuals identified as Popular Opinion Leaders (POLs), or trusted community members with large social networks, to disseminate health information to promote COVID-19 vaccine uptake. Strategies to reduce racial inequities in COVID-19 vaccine uptake must begin with accurately identifying and empathetically acknowledging the root causes of vaccine hesitancy, as well as addressing nuanced concerns that drive vaccine avoidance amongst Black individuals. Community engagement and collaboration are central in creating interventions to develop and test culturally relevant strategies, as observed with our curricula, that bridge scientific efforts with community concerns and practices.