Jessica Kirk is looking forward to her turn to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
The 46-year-old mother of three and former medical secretary has a compromised immune system, which places her at greater risk of experiencing complications from the coronavirus that has already claimed more than 400,000 Americans’ lives.
Kirk is confident in the safety of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Her fellow community members, however, don’t all feel the same way.
Many of Kirk’s neighbors in the predominantly Black and low-income neighborhood of East Akron are hesitant to take the vaccine because they fear negative consequences.
“They think it’s just the government giving them something just to kill off, you know… the poor Black community. … [Not] just Black people, but minorities,” Kirk said on a frigid early January afternoon outside of Dave’s Supermarket, a bustling neighborhood grocery store.