WASHINGTON – Confronted with widespread distrust of government in communities of color, the Trump administration is turning to historically Black colleges and churches for help to alleviate fears about the coming coronavirus vaccines and promote them to a population that has been at high risk during the pandemic.
Surgeon General Jerome Adams, who has been leading the effort, said the federal government must “validate and acknowledge peoples’ legitimate fears” to build trust in a vaccine.
“Many people of color have good reason not to trust the government or the health care system, and we’ve got to remember that while a lot of the framing is often political, and there is no doubt that there is a higher level of distrust for this administration, it goes back well beyond or before this administration,” Adams said in an interview with McClatchy.
