Some U.S. Black pastors, key players in COVID education, are hesitating to push vaccine

Some U.S. Black pastors, key players in COVID education, are hesitating to push vaccine When a major healthcare organization asked A.R. Bernard, the Black head of a Brooklyn megachurch, to sit on a committee tasked with boosting acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in communities of color in New York City, he demurred. Gabriella Borter, Makini Brice U.S.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - When a major healthcare organization asked A.R. Bernard, the Black head of a Brooklyn megachurch, to sit on a committee tasked with boosting acceptance of COVID-19 vaccines in communities of color in New York City, he demurred.

Bernard, who leads the Christian Cultural Center, the largest church in the city, said he turned down the offer because he worried some members of his congregation could view his participation as “joining forces with the system” to use African Americans “as guinea pigs” for vaccines that have been developed in record time.

Like most of the dozen Black faith leaders Reuters interviewed, Bernard did not yet want to show public support for an inoculation he feels he does not know enough about and risk jeopardizing his community’s trust.

“We’re concerned about it being tested on persons of color,” said Bernard, referring to people who would get the vaccine early in its public rollout. Black people comprised about 10% of the vaccine trial volunteers compared to 13.4% of the U.S. population.

The pastor was hospitalized with the virus in March and said he wanted to “wait and see” more information on the vaccine side effects.

The hesitation to recommend vaccination is striking because Black pastors have been playing a key role in educating their communities about the risks of COVID-19 for African Americans, who are 2.8 times more likely to die from it than white Americans, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Public health officials hope Black faith leaders and other Black role models will help alleviate strong skepticism among African Americans about the safety of the vaccine, which is being distributed across the country. The shots are crucial to ending a pandemic that has killed more than 300,000 Americans so far, health experts say. ...