Gov. Cuomo preaches virtues of virus vaccine to Black congregations

Shant Shahrigian, New York Daily News
·2 min read
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NEW YORK — As critics continue to slam the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, Gov. Andrew Cuomo delivered virtual remarks to three predominantly Black churches Sunday to preach the virtues of the drugs.

“We all need to trust the vaccine,” he said in a prerecorded statement to Bethany Baptist Church in Brooklyn and two upstate churches. “I know there is skepticism about government and about the Trump administration in particular. Don’t get me wrong — I didn’t trust many actions of the Trump administration.

“But this vaccine was reviewed by the best doctors and hospitals in New York State and it is safe,” he added.

Only about four in 10 Black Americans were willing to take a COVID-19 vaccine as of late November, according to the Pew Research Center. Other surveys have found overall acceptance of vaccines going up since vaccinations began in mid-December.

From the outset, the COVID-19 crisis has disproportionately impacted communities of color. In New York City, the COVID-19 death rate is 286 per 100,000 Latinos and 265 per 100,000 Black people, compared to 147 per 100,000 whites, according to the city Health Department.

“COVID was low tide in America. It exposed the racism and the discrimination and the injustice that laid on the bottom of America. Blacks died at twice the rate of whites. Hispanics died at one and a half times the rate of whites,” Cuomo said in his Sunday remarks.

“We now have a vaccine that will save lives, but it will only save lives if we take it. While the vaccine is scarce across the country, I am working as hard as I can to get it here for you,” he added.

The state set up vaccination sites at four public housing projects on Saturday, an effort to target people of color. The move followed widespread outrage over the slow rollout of the vaccines and bickering between the governor and Mayor de Blasio over who was to blame.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 continues to claim a shocking number of lives.

On Saturday, 160 New Yorkers statewide died of COVID-19, according to Cuomo’s office, bringing the death toll to 34,069 — a figure that, unlike the city Health Department’s numbers, does not include probable but unconfirmed deaths.