Post by abbey1227 on Aug 12, 2021 13:42:12 GMT
The New York Times
Why Only 27% of Young Black New Yorkers Are Vaccinated
Joseph Goldstein and Matthew Sedacca
Thu, August 12, 2021, 7:28 AM
NEW YORK — A construction site safety manager in Queens said that as a Black man, he was more worried about the prospect of being stopped by the police than he was about getting COVID-19.
A graduate student in the Bronx who had not gotten vaccinated said her worst fears seemed confirmed when a vaccine that the government was directing to Black and poorer neighborhoods was briefly suspended over a small number of dangerous blood clots.
And a civil rights activist in the Bronx said he grew suspicious when he heard last year that politicians were prioritizing minority neighborhoods for coronavirus vaccinations.
“Since when does America give anything good to Black people first?” said the activist, Hawk Newsome, a 44-year-old Black Lives Matter leader who is unvaccinated.
All three situations reflect a trend that has become a major concern to public health experts: Young Black New Yorkers are especially reluctant to get vaccinated, even as the delta variant is rapidly spreading among their ranks. City data shows that only 27% of Black New Yorkers ages 18 to 44 are fully vaccinated, compared with 48% of Latino residents and 52% of white residents in that age group.
This vaccination gap is emerging as the latest stark racial disparity in an epidemic full of them. Epidemiologists say they expect this third wave will hit Black New Yorkers especially hard.
“This is a major public health failure,” said Dr. Dustin Duncan, a public health researcher and Columbia University professor.
Why Only 27% of Young Black New Yorkers Are Vaccinated
Joseph Goldstein and Matthew Sedacca
Thu, August 12, 2021, 7:28 AM
NEW YORK — A construction site safety manager in Queens said that as a Black man, he was more worried about the prospect of being stopped by the police than he was about getting COVID-19.
A graduate student in the Bronx who had not gotten vaccinated said her worst fears seemed confirmed when a vaccine that the government was directing to Black and poorer neighborhoods was briefly suspended over a small number of dangerous blood clots.
And a civil rights activist in the Bronx said he grew suspicious when he heard last year that politicians were prioritizing minority neighborhoods for coronavirus vaccinations.
“Since when does America give anything good to Black people first?” said the activist, Hawk Newsome, a 44-year-old Black Lives Matter leader who is unvaccinated.
All three situations reflect a trend that has become a major concern to public health experts: Young Black New Yorkers are especially reluctant to get vaccinated, even as the delta variant is rapidly spreading among their ranks. City data shows that only 27% of Black New Yorkers ages 18 to 44 are fully vaccinated, compared with 48% of Latino residents and 52% of white residents in that age group.
This vaccination gap is emerging as the latest stark racial disparity in an epidemic full of them. Epidemiologists say they expect this third wave will hit Black New Yorkers especially hard.
“This is a major public health failure,” said Dr. Dustin Duncan, a public health researcher and Columbia University professor.
In interviews, dozens of Black New Yorkers across the city — an aspiring dancer in Brownsville, a young mother of five in Far Rockaway, a teacher in Canarsie, a Black Lives Matter activist in the Bronx, and many others — gave a long list of reasons for not getting vaccinated, many rooted in a fear that during these uncertain times they could not trust the government with their health.
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