Health officials say the disparity in coronavirus vaccinations among African Americans stems from two major causes; too few doses in Black communities, and distrust in the vaccine. During a virtual COVID-19 town hall hosted by Jackson State University, Mississippi's Second District Congressman Bennie Thompson says distrust in the vaccine is not as much of an issue as it once was. He says millions more vaccines are needed to reach rural minority communities and says a new federal stimulus package could help accomplish that goal. "The people I talk to now are trying to get access to the vaccine. That's the only problem. And so it might have been in the beginning, but I think now it's making it available to everyone, and I think this big buy is going to get us the opportunity to make it available to more people," says Thompson.
Dr. William Truly, Mayor of Canton and a general practitioner, says his practice usually receives around 100 coronavirus vaccine doses, but he says there are 5 times more people on his waiting list. He says demand for the shot is rising, but the disparities are still there. "You gotta really ask yourself the question when you look at the data why do you have such a high percentage of whites who received the vaccine and minorities who don't? And I think the problem is the distribution," says Dr. Truly. "I've always recommended some of the distribution sites need to be the Church."
The City of Jackson is hosting a 2000 dose vaccination event at the Convention Center on March 6th to make coronavirus vaccines more available for Black residents.
