NEW YORK: Black New Yorkers’ skepticism about vaccines developed at record speed to fight COVID-19 means they lag behind other racial groups in inoculations to fight the pandemic that has killed more than 400,000 people in the United States, officials said on Sunday.
New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state plans to run an advertising campaign that will seek to boost trust and dispel hesitancy among many Black New Yorkers to get the potentially life-saving vaccine.
New York City, once the epicenter of the U.S. pandemic, will expand outreach to 33 communities hardest hit by the often-deadly disease, many of them extremely skeptical of vaccines, Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters on Sunday.
While Blacks made up 24% of New York City’s population, according to 2019 data, they have so far sought and received only 11% of coronavirus vaccinations, he said. By comparison, whites made up 32% of the city’s population, yet received 48% of vaccinations, he said.
“Why? We’ve got…