|
 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 a profound problem of distrust and hesitancy" in
Black communities, de Blasio said.
A similar pattern is seen among hospital workers in the state, who
were the first to be offered the vaccines, according to Cuomo.
Blacks are 17% of hospital staff in New York, yet only 10% of those
who agreed to hospital vaccinations, the governor said. In
comparison, Asians are 11% of hospital staff and accounted for 16%
of the workers who agreed to hospital vaccinations.
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 "It's the clearest
demonstration of hesitancy," Cuomo said.
So far, a total of 1.919 million doses of
vaccine have been administered statewide,
including more than 800,000 in New York City
alone, officials said.
While another 7 million New Yorkers are waiting
for the vaccine now, Cuomo said, the state
receives only 300,000 doses each week.
 Herd immunity against COVID-19 may require
vaccination rates of at least 70%, Dr. Anthony
Fauci, the most prominent U.S. infectious
disease expert, has said.
(Reporting by Barbara Goldberg in New York;
Editing by Daniel Wallis)
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