After Vice President Kamala Harris received her second dose of the COVID-19 vaccine at a televised event at the National Institutes of Health in January, Rep. Joyce Beatty’s (D-Ohio) phone lit up with calls from constituents who were “curious recently “about getting vaccinated, she said The New York Times.
As Beatty explained, watching a black woman get the vaccine “gave people hope and education”. American blacks are almost three times more likely to die from coronavirus, the Times notes, but it is much less likely that they will be vaccinated, largely because of the lack of access, but also, some experts pointed out, because of the longstanding distrust of government-run health programs.
Harris, it seems, was able to alleviate some of these concerns about her public vaccination, and she also allegedly pressured President Biden and his advisers in particular to focus on how their policies will ensure that the least favored people in urban and rural settings are protected from the virus. “The vice president put a lot of pressure on us, in a very good way,” said Jeffrey Zients, Biden’s coronavirus response coordinator, Times. “She insisted: ‘Where are we at the mobile vaccination units? How many will we have, in what time frame? Will they be able to reach rural and urban communities? How much progress have you made? “Read more about Harris’ role in the Biden administration so far at The New York Times.
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