By Will Stribling
Apr 6, 2021 12:25 PM
As Mississippi’s rollout of COVID-19 vaccines began to ramp up in early 2021, a troubling truth was revealed about the shots being put into people’s arms across the state: Black Mississippians weren’t getting their fair share.
Two months after the first doses were administered in the state, Black Mississippians had received just 19% of the total vaccines given, despite making up 38% of the state’s population. After bearing the brunt of cases and deaths early in the pandemic, Black Mississippians were being shorted on the road to recovery.
A few months later, the picture is quite different. Mississippi is much closer to vaccine parity, with 31% of total shots going to Black residents. For the past four weeks, Black Mississippians’ share of the doses administered has been equal to or higher than their share of the population.
Some Black MS residents are skeptical of COVID vaccine. Can researchers change minds? [The Sun Herald]
Dec. 21 A few days ago, Vanessa Reed got a letter in the mail. A company called ClinicalResearch.com wanted her to know she could get up to $740 and potentially a free COVID-19 vaccine if she signed up for a clinical trial.
Reed, who is Black and Native American, tossed the letter aside.
“To me it’s dangerous,” she said of the vaccine. “I do believe in vaccinating your children. But I just don’t trust any of this. People can tell me it’s OK, but their body is not my body.”
U.S. life expectancy inched up last year, but could decline in 2020 by the largest amount since World War II, as COVID-19 becomes the nation’s third-leading cause of death. Data released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that life expectancy rose to 78.8 years in 2019, an increase of one-tenth of a year. But the gain will be erased by a large drop in longevity when the government releases 2020 figures next year.
To build COVID-19 vaccine trust with Black Mississippians, researchers fight legacy of mistreatment Isabelle Taft, The Sun Herald
Dec. 21 A few days ago, Vanessa Reed got a letter in the mail. A company called ClinicalResearch.com wanted her to know she could get up to $740 and potentially a free COVID-19 vaccine if she signed up for a clinical trial.
Reed, who is Black and Native American, tossed the letter aside. To me it s dangerous, she said of the vaccine. I do believe in vaccinating your children. But I just don t trust any of this. People can tell me it s OK, but their body is not my body.