COVID Vaccine Hesitancy: Dr. Wrenetha Julion

More than 10% of the U.S. population has received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, but injection rates are lower in black and brown communities, and many people express doubts about the shots made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna. Vaccine hesitancy presents a barrier in the fight against coronavirus. 

A recent poll by Pew Research Center found that "Black Americans continue to stand out as less inclined to get vaccinated than other racial and ethnic groups: 42% would do so, compared with 63% of Hispanic and 61% of White adults."

Our guest, Dr. Wrenetha Julion, professor and department chair at Rush University College of Nursing, discusses causes of vaccine hesitancy and how to encourage more people to take a high-effective vaccine against the virus.  

Vaccine hesitancy "is a significant problem," says Wrenetha. "It stems from a long history of mistrust and mistreatment of African-Americans and other groups in healthcare systems and research. Unfortunately, those things stick in people's minds." 

We examine the impact of the Tuskegee experiment and look at Wrenetha's suggestions for building vaccine trust in marginalized communities. 

Recommendation: Richard is reading The Divine Comedy, a 700-year old epic poem about heaven, hell, and purgatory by Dante Alighieri. Jim recommends "Stuck: How Vaccine Rumors Start and Why They Don't Go Away", by Heidi Larson.

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