Nearly a third of black Americans are still hesitant to get vaccinated against Covid-19, study finds

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The findings come as the nation’s top health leaders urge blacks to trust the vaccine, hosting live events where black healthcare professionals are among the first to receive and administer it.
The Kaiser study found that 35% of black Americans would probably or certainly not receive the vaccine if it was found safe by scientists and widely available for free.

Among black Americans who are reluctant to get vaccinated, the majority, 71%, say they are concerned about possible side effects; half feared catching Covid-19 from taking the vaccine; and 48% said they were generally suspicious of vaccines.

Other studies have noted that blacks and Latinos cite distrust of the federal government and the nation’s history of racism in medical research as the main reasons for their hesitation.

Sandra Lindsay, a black nurse in intensive care at Long Island Jewish Medical Center, was one of the first Americans to receive the vaccine on Monday. It was introduced by Dr. Michelle Chester, Executive Director of Employee Health Services at Northwell Health, who is also black.

Lindsay told CNN’s Anderson Cooper that she felt fine after taking the vaccine. Lindsay said the vaccine was no different from the flu shot she gets every year.

“I am not afraid. I am convinced that my profession is deeply rooted in science …” said Lindsay. “What I don’t trust is having Covid-19 because I don’t know how it’s going to affect me and the people around me that I could potentially transfer the virus to.”

Analysis: More blacks to participate in Covid-19 vaccine trials. This is why I participated

Almost 40% of reported Covid-19 cases were blacks and Latin Americans, according to the CDC.

Many people of color fear that vaccine developers have not considered the needs of their ethnic group, according to the Kaiser study.

He found that 48% of black adults said they were unconvinced that the needs of blacks were being met and 36% of Latino adults said the same about the needs of Latin Americans.

However, an overwhelming majority of people of color, 85%, said they would trust the vaccine information from their personal doctor or health care provider at least to a good extent, the study found. .

Some black Americans and Latin Americans are still hesitant to get vaccinated. Here's what feeds this mistrust

Black doctors have been at the forefront of efforts to build confidence around the vaccine with black people.

Dr Yves Duroseau, president of emergency medicine at Lenox Hill Hospital, was also among the first to receive the vaccine this week. Duroseau told CNN’s Poppy Harlow that he hopes to influence communities that have been disproportionately affected by Covid-19.

Lenox Hill Hospital Emergency Medicine President Yves Duroseau receives the Covid-19 vaccine at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center on Monday.

“With the rollout of vaccination, there has been, quite frankly, a message that we have to be ethical about it, we have to be fair, we have to protect the most vulnerable,” said Duroseau.

“And we have to reach not only minorities but also rural areas, we have to make sure that everyone is included.”

Ernest Grant, president of the American Nurses Association, participated in a vaccine trial this fall to fight black community fears of taking the vaccine.

“At some point there is always this potential for this (Covid-19) to happen to you and if I know that there is a cure that could potentially save me, I think I would go look for the cure” Grant told CNN last month.
Fauci wants people to know that one of the main scientists who developed the Covid-19 vaccine is a black woman

Dr Anthony Fauci recently paid tribute to Dr Kizzmekia Corbett, a black woman and one of the leading scientists who helped develop the vaccine, in hopes he will convince black people to trust the process.

“So the first thing you might want to tell my African American brothers and sisters is that the vaccine you are going to take was developed by an African American woman,” Fauci said during a National Urban League event earlier this month. . “And that’s just a fact.”

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