A new $40 million initiative aimed at fighting the coronavirus pandemic among ethnic minorities and rural and socially vulnerable communities involves a newly created partnership between the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of Minority Health and the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

Under the arrangement, Morehouse will coordinate a strategic network of national, state, territorial, tribal and local organizations to deliver COVID-19-related information to communities hardest hit by the pandemic.

"This initiative has at its core the community-based organizations who know their people best and who are committed to working collaboratively to reduce health-inequities and make them healthy and safe."

The initiative, which consists of a three-year project designed to work with community-based organizations across the nation to deliver education and information on resources, will help fight the pandemic.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said the partnership "will work with trusted community organizations to bring information on COVID-19 testing, vaccinations, and other services to the Americans who need it."