Barack Obama Says He’ll Take COVID-19 Vaccine On Live TV To Prove Its Safety
There are reports that the coronavirus vaccine will be available to the general public in the next few months. However, many African Amercians are scared to take the vaccine, which has been created in record time. Former president Barack Obama and Bill Clinton are vowing to take the vaccine to calm fears.
During a December 3 interview with SiriusXM host Joe Madison, Obama said about taking the vaccine, “People like Anthony Fauci, who I know, and I've worked with, I trust completely. So, if Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe, and can vaccinate, you know, immunize you from getting Covid, absolutely, I'm going to take it."
He also added, "I promise you that when it's been made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it. I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don't trust is getting Covid.”
According to CNN, the chief of staff for Bill Clinton and George W. Bush agreed to take the vaccine as well.
According to an Axios/Ipsos poll taken in August, a significant portion of Black Americans said they were unlikely to get the first-generation COVID-19 vaccine once it becomes available. That’s compared to more than half of white and Latino respondents who said they’d agree to be vaccinated.
When it comes to America’s history with vaccines and the African American community, things are shaky at best. Many point to the experiences of Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were taken by doctors at Johns Hopkins University without her knowledge and used for experimentation as she died of cancer. Black men were also subjected to the tortuous Tuskegee Syphilis Study from the 1930s to the 1970s.
