Docs, Minister, Urge African-Americans to Overcome Decades of Suspicion, Take Covid Vaccine

African American vaccinations still lag

Photo by New National Guard/Flickr

By Manny Otiko

A recent teleconference, organized by Ethnic Media Services, featured doctors, a minister and civic leaders who were trying to raise awareness about the importance of African-Americans receiving their Covid-19 vaccination.

One of the featured speakers was Dr. Oliver T. Brooks of Watts Health. According to Brooks, African-Americans still lag in vaccination rates and we can see the consequences in the fatality rates. For example, the African-American senior Covid fatality rate is 7% which is higher than the average statewide (5 %) in California, he said.

“If you are unvaccinated, you are more likely to get Covid, to die from Covid, to be hospitalized, or spread it to other people,” he said.

COVID-19 vaccination rates lag in younger Black and Latino residents in L.A. County

A history of mistrust

According to research, Brooks said some of the reasons African-Americans say they have not been…