Tyler Perry says he was ‘skeptical’ about COVID vaccine. Here’s why he got it — on TV

Media mogul Tyler Perry is one of more than 24 million Americans who’ve rolled up their sleeves to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.

The “Madea” star admits he was skeptical at first but now hopes to ease mistrust among African Americans, who have been disproportionately impacted by the virus but are getting vaccinated at “significantly lower rates” compared to other groups, according to a recent study from Kaiser Health.

Perry, 51, will address these and other issues in a new TV special set to air Thursday night on the BET network. The half-hour program is the latest in a series of BET news specials aimed at addressing COVID-19’s impact on the Black community and answering questions about the vaccine rollout.

“If you take your chances with COVID, you never know how it’s going to affect you,” Perry told CBS’ Gayle King in an interview Tuesday.

The filmmaker, who lives in Atlanta, said he agreed to get the vaccine after being approached by doctors at Grady Health System, one of the largest health care systems in the state of Georgia.

“When they called up and asked if I would take it to encourage the community, I thought, ‘I’ll do that — but you’ve got to answer all my questions,’ “ Perry said. “I thought, while you answer my questions, why don’t you record it so you can answer questions for a lot of people in the community.”

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More than 25 million coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the U.S. since the start of the pandemic and more than 427,500 people have died, according to Johns Hopkins University. In Georgia, there were more than 731,800 cases as of Wednesday, and of those infected, about 25% (or 188,524) are Black, state health data shows.

In his interview with King, the NAACP Image Award winner acknowledged the history of mistrust Black people have when it comes to medical research. A prime example is the Tuskegee syphilis study of 1932, as well as the case of Henrietta Lacks, a Black cancer patient whose “immortal” line of cells were taken, without consent, from her cervical tissue and used in research to advance modern medicine.

“It raises flags for us as African Americans,” Perry said of the coronavirus vaccine. “So I understand why there’s a healthy skepticism about [it].”

The actor said he received his first dose of the Pfizer vaccine Jan. 4 and had several questions leading up to the moment the needle landed in his arm.

“To be able to ask those questions, not only for myself, but also share them with the community” is important, Perry said, according to “CBS This Morning.” “What I told them is I’m not taking this vaccine because I want you to take it. I want to give you the information so you can make your own choices. That’s what it’s about, education and information.”

“COVID-19 Vaccine and the Black Community: A Tyler Perry Special” will air on BET and BET Her on Thursday, Jan. 28 at 9 p.m. ET.