60 Black Health Experts Urge Black Americans to Get Covid-19 Vaccine

More than 60 Black health experts from the National Academy of Medicine have contributed to an op-ed in The New York Times, asking Black Americans to trust the vaccine and make an appointment to get vaccinated.

“Many of us fought our way into health professions specifically to care for the health of our community. We have devoted our careers to ensuring that everyone — regardless of race — receives the care required for optimal health. This is why we support the Covid-19 vaccines,” they wrote.

The experts cite a survey that suggests only 35% of Black Americans would get the vaccine or had been already vaccinated, while most would “wait and see.”

“These vaccines were tested by teams of outstanding scientists in many different countries — including Black scientists who worked on vaccine development and served on review panels for the Food and Drug Administration,” the experts wrote.

Other news reports have shown that there is racial disparity in vaccines already been given. A Politico report suggests that just 5% of vaccines distributed have gone to Black Americans, while other stories from Arizona, Wisconsin, and New York give further evidence to racial disparity in the vaccine rollout.

The experts acknowledge that past horrors inflicted on Black Americans by the health care system make it easy to be skeptical of this vaccine rollout, but that Black doctors and researchers have been integral to…