Bay Area Congresswoman Barbara Lee has received her COVID-19 vaccine, and hopes people of color will take her lead.
"I got the vaccine, and I would not ask my constituents to take it unless I would do that," she said. But Lee knows it will take more than just her to help the Bay Area’s Black community to feel more comfortable and overcome the lack of trust towards medical institutions because of a long history of racism in medicine.
"There’s so much distrust, and when you see the percentages of people in communities of color who don’t trust this vaccine, it’s astounding," said Rep. Lee.
That distrust is why Dr. Anthony Fauci highlighted the work of Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a Black woman, in developing the Moderna vaccine, and it is why Lee is pushing for Congress to fund Black-led grassroots organizations to help get the message out.
"To make sure our public health messages are presented in a way where people feel comfortable, not only with the vaccine but also adhere to our health protocols…which requires us sending out trusted messengers with the message as it relates to masking, hand hygiene and physical distancing as well as the vaccine," she added.
Lee said she will continue to push for stimulus funding to include groups who can spread vaccine and safety messages to black and brown communities.
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