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Former President Barack Obama has said he may take a coronavirus vaccine on television to allay fears surrounding the issue.
He told Sirius XM’s “Urban View” that frontline workers, like those in grocery stores, should take the vaccine first, but “I promise you that when it’s done for people less at risk next, I will. will take and I might end up catching it on TV or having it filmed just to let people know that I trust this science. “
He added: “And what I don’t trust is COVID … I think at this point, especially in the African American community, we are – African Americans, Hispanics, Native Americans – we have the highest death rates from this thing and are the most exposed and the most vulnerable in part because we have a lot of pre-existing conditions. “
Posted on YouTube on Wednesday, the audio of Obama’s comments came after a poll indicated that a significant number of Americans had reservations about taking a vaccine. His full interview is scheduled to air Thursday.
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The former president also expressed confidence in President-elect Biden’s administration to appoint strong advisers on the issue. He went on to congratulate Dr Anthony Fauci, one of the White House’s top coronavirus advisers who clashed with President Trump.
“People like Anthony Fauci, whom I know, and with whom I have worked, I have complete confidence,” he said. “So if Anthony Fauci tells me that this vaccine is safe and can immunize, immunize you against COVID, absolutely I will take it.
Obama said he understood that some skepticism could arise from the way African Americans have been historically treated.
“I understand, historically, anything going back to the experiences of Tuskegee and so on, why the African American community would have a certain skepticism,” he said. “But the point is, vaccines are the reason we don’t have polio anymore. And that’s why we don’t have a whole group of children dying from measles, smallpox, and diseases that were decimating entire populations and communities.
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Moderna Inc. said on Monday it was asking US and European regulators to allow emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine as new study results confirm the vaccines offer strong protection – stepping up the race to start limited vaccinations as the coronavirus outburst worsens.
US hospitals have been stretched to the limit as the country has seen more than 160,000 new cases per day and more than 1,400 deaths daily. Since it emerged almost a year ago in China, the virus has killed more than 1.4 million people worldwide.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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