The COVID-19 pandemic (caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus) exposed the pervasive social inequities and the detrimental impact on poor health outcomes among low-income communities of color across the U.S. African American/Black, Latinx, and Native American populations, in particular, are disproportionately at greater risk for COVID-19 infection, hospitalization, and death. Amongst low-income communities of color in Inland Southern California, COVID-19 exists alongside diabetes, respiratory conditions, and heart disease. Structural factors, such as poverty, racism, and housing exacerbate the rate of disease clustering, contributing to what Singer termed “syndemics.” It is the intersection of biology and disease with social contexts which has been the case among the communities at the center of this research. In an effort to address health disparities in Inland Southern California, the STOP COVID-19 CA (Share, Trust, Organize, Partner: The COVID-19 California Alliance) team at the University of California, Riverside focused on COVID-19 awareness and education research among Black/African American, Latinx, and Native American communities. This project incorporated a multidisciplinary and community-based participatory approach in order to critically involve structurally vulnerable populations in COVID-19 testing and vaccination perceptions and efforts. The objective of this roundtable is to bring together the varying voices involved in this project and discuss the role of research institutions, centering the responsibility of the university, as ethically obliged to serve these communities in addressing the health needs of the populations with whom they reside. The panelists will describe the factors that impact COVID-19 testing and vaccination among communities of color and shed light on how the university, as an intrinsic component of the storage and generation of knowledge, can serve structurally vulnerable communities in moral and justice-oriented ways that ultimately work towards reducing social inequalities. Although the lasting impacts of COVID-19 have yet to be ascertained, there is an opportunity for medical anthropologists, public health practitioners, and community members to engage in cross-sector and equitable collaborations. Furthermore, this will center social determinants of health and provide recommendations on how to better respond to compounding health and resource disparities for future outbreaks. In the midst of uncertainty, there lies the opportunity to establish community-based, meaningful, just, and moral responses to public health emergencies.