Why we re thinking about vaccine hesitancy wrong in communities of color: Experts
On Location: May 7, 2021
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It started with the op-eds. Even before COVID-19vaccines were widely available, newspapers opinion pages warned that some Black people would be hesitant to get the shot. Those columns often referenced the infamous 1930s Tuskegee Syphilis Study, during which doctors withheld treatment from Black men with syphilis, as evidence of lingering well-founded mistrust that might drag down vaccination rates in the Black community.MORE: The risks unvaccinated Americans are weighing
That theory wasn t just fueled by newspapers. Former President Barack Obama and former NBA player Charles Barkley both referenced Tuskegee during an April NBC special to encourage Black Americans to get vaccinated. I’m telling all my friends, Yo man, forget what happened back in the day, every Black person, please go out and get vaccinated, Barkley said.