I shared the experience of getting my first vaccine with folks on my social media.
This week, I got my second COVID vaccination. Just like the first, it couldn’t have been easier. It was nothing, nearly painless, and I know that I did the right thing for our kids, elders, and communities.
Whenever it’s your turn, I urge you to take the vaccine, too. I shared the experience of getting my first vaccine with folks on my social media — if you missed it the first time around, you can watch it here:
Truth be told, getting the vaccine wasn’t something I was looking forward to. I was nervous — because when it comes to health care, America has a history of medical exploitation of Black and brown people, and those actions still impact our communities today.
For example, with COVID-19, Black people are more likely to catch the virus. According to the CDC, Black and Latino Americans are dying of COVID-19 at three times the rate of white people and being hospitalized at a rate four times higher.
Even when it comes to who gets the vaccine, white people are getting vaccinated at higher rates than Black and Latino Americans. It’s medical and systemic racism in action.
Our communities are impacted by redlining, poor health care, underfunded schools, lack of green spaces, food insecurity, and more. That’s why I constantly emphasize how important it is that we immediately and explicitly reconcile our country’s history of racism.
