12:47 PM PST 1/26/2021
in
Ryan Parker
“I really didn’t feel like I could trust that. But as soon as I got all the information, I discovered the researchers, I was very, very happy, ”said the media mogul.
Tyler Perry received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccination and decided to use the experience, through a special BET, to help inform those who remain skeptical about applying the vaccine.
On a CBS This Morning In an interview on Tuesday, the media mogul said he was invited by health officials to take steps to encourage others who are suspicious. He said he agreed, as long as he could ask medical experts questions for a TV special documenting the moment.
“If you look at our history in this country, Tuskegee’s experiment, Henrietta Lacks, raises flags for us as African Americans. So I understand why there is a healthy skepticism about the vaccine,” Perry told Gayle King.
“I know you are certainly under 65,” noted King. “But they thought, ‘If Tyler Perry gets it, it will send a strong message.'” He agreed.
Perry explained that he had doubts about the development of the vaccine technology and said: “I didn’t think I could trust it. But after I got all the information, I discovered the researchers, I was very, very happy.”
Perry said he got the Pfizer vaccine. “I got my first one on January 4 and I got my second one yesterday,” he said on Tuesday. “I had no reaction to the first injection. This injection I took yesterday, I woke up with some pain. But I took a little Advil about an hour ago and I feel fine now.”
Their BET special airs on Thursday night, with Perry saying it’s important because “I have a team that works for me, and they’re mostly African Americans who were skeptical about the vaccine. When they sat down in the living room, how they worked on the cameras, doing hair, makeup and all that stuff, they heard all the information and when we got to the end, everyone wanted to get it. So, I think, again, everything is going to get the right information of people you trust and understand. I think this last administration has done a lot of damage by decreasing confidence in this vaccine. But the information I found was very useful. “
See the full interview below.