One of the biggest hurdles related to the coronavirus pandemic – creating a viable vaccine – was overcome when the first Americans got the injection on Monday.
But the nation now faces the great challenge of convincing the majority of the country – especially minority communities – to get the vaccination.
Color communities, especially black communities, have been disproportionately devastated by COVID-19.
Blacks in the US are 3.7 times more likely to be in hospital and 2.8 times more likely to die than whites, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Native Americans and Latinos are hospitalized about four times the rate of white people due to COVID-19 and are more than 2.5 times more likely to die.
However, in a recent poll conducted by the Pew Research Center, only 42 percent of black adults surveyed said they would receive the vaccine. Overall, it found that 60 percent of Americans would either “definitely” or “likely” get vaccinated against a disease that killed more than 300,000 people in the United States
The caution shown by black communities to use drugs at the behest of the federal government is reasonable.
In 1932, the public health service began what is now commonly referred to as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. The black men who took part in the study received free medical exams as payment, but never received treatment for the disease, even after penicillin became the main form of treatment for syphilis. Although all of the subjects agreed to be part of the study, they were unaware of the nature of the study and were, in fact, misled by researchers.
Far from being an old story, federal studies didn’t finish until 1972.
This means some sort of climb for the federal government and outside groups to make sure the black communities are high on the list to get the vaccine.
Both the government and civil rights groups are actively seeking to allay the deeply ingrained suspicions that are ingrained in these communities.
The NAACP is hosting a town hall on Wednesday evening with a handful of black high-profile figures. Marcella Nunez-SmithMarcella Nunez-Smith The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – House contradicts the threat of veto to approve the Defense Bill as virus relief pending. MORE, a Yale doctor who has been named co-chair to the President-Elect Joe Biden
Joe BidenHogan on Republicans Who Will Not Accept the Election Result: “They Are Out of Control” Biden rips up Trump’s refusal to vote after the electoral college election. Senate GOP warns Biden against electing Sally Yates as attorney generalThe coronavirus advisory board and the National Institutes of Health’s senior researcher, Kizzmekia Corbett, who has been at the forefront of vaccine development, will both be in attendance. Sen. Cory Booker
Cory BookerSenate Democrats urge Google to improve ad guidelines to tackle election disinformation. Obama jokes with “Desus & Mero”: “You could play for the Knicks” JPMorgan gives MORE recovery policy recommendations to the Biden team (DN.J.) will also take part in the virtual event.
A Biden transition official told The Hill that the incoming government “plans how to communicate in the most creative, transparent, and effective ways to reach Americans where they are,” adding more detailed details of the plans would be published in the coming weeks. “
According to Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, transparency of both inbound and outbound administration is paramount.
“There was really no transparency about the distribution plan put together by the Trump administration,” Morial said. “We hear that health care workers will get it first. We hear that vulnerable Americans are going to get it … but there’s no clear definition of who vulnerable Americans are. “
“There has to be a well-designed, well-funded advertising campaign to get people information,” Morial continued. “People need to know that the clinical trial process involved people from different backgrounds and races. … people need to understand why the process is being tested around this vaccine [was] very different than during the Tuskegee experiment.
The civil rights leader also pointed out the importance of having black doctors and researchers who were part of the vaccine-making process, like Corbett, featured in advertisements.
Ministry of Health and Human Services spokesman Mark Weber announced that a cross-platform advertising campaign by the federal government will soon be launched.
“The vaccine uptake efforts are focused on what we call ‘the moving center,'” Weber said in a statement to The Hill. “Both the message and the messenger must be credible. We do quick research with key audiences to make sure the message and promotion is effective. These and many other topics shape the public education strategy. “
One step in the advertising measures would be “customized message transmission to disproportionately affected groups and areas of the country with the highest infection rates,” said Weber.
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