Karen Bass claims people of color lack vaccine access in break with top Democrats

“In nearly every jurisdiction where racial and ethnic data are being reported, White Americans are being vaccinated at higher rates,” they wrote. “Commentators have been quick to blame vaccine hesitancy in Black and Latino communities as driving the vaccination gap. In reality, communities of color are lagging behind because they can’t access the vaccine, not because they don’t want it.”

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The trio cited polling demonstrating that majorities of people across several minority groups are willing to get vaccinated as evidence that other barriers are the true cause for low vaccination rates.

“Online registration is a barrier for many people of color who are eager to get vaccinated. … Lack of personal transportation and inflexible schedules can also create barriers, particularly for low-income and front-line workers,” the op-ed read. “Those are all reasons why multiple cities report seeing White residents booking vaccine appointments at clinics located in communities of color.”

Bass and her co-authors urged local governments to “flip the script” by “reserv[ing] appointment slots for disproportionately impacted groups and conduct[ing] proactive, targeted outreach to communities of color.”

The California Democrat previously cited “systemic racism” as a factor in vaccine distribution.

“People are having difficulties getting online,” she said on CNN. “Individuals … who are white are coming into inner-city areas they probably have never been in before seeking vaccines.”

Bass’s comments stand in stark contrast to those of other leading Democrats, who argue low vaccination rates among minority communities are a result of hesitancy rather than lack of access. In his “State of the State” address on Tuesday night, California Gov. Gavin Newsom touted his state’s progress in achieving “equitable and plentiful vaccines.”

“[In California], we prioritize those who are at the greatest risk and with greatest exposure to the virus. We don’t just talk about vaccine equity. We’ve designed our entire system around it. … Now, with greater supply, emerges a challenge as old as vaccines themselves: hesitancy about whether to get it,” he said, telling the story of Maria, an 85-year-old farmworker who was originally “uncertain” about getting vaccinated.

Cedric Richmond, a senior adviser to President Biden, echoed those sentiments in expressing his lack of surprise at LeBron James’s refusal to commit to getting vaccinated.

“The unfortunate part is, it doesn’t surprise me,” he told CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday. “There’s some real hesitancy in African American males.”

The former Louisiana congressman, who encouraged vaccination as the “safest thing you can do for your family,” explained that many black people’s hesitancy to get inoculated is rooted in history.

“It was a vaccine created in 10 months, usually takes five to 10 years, with a former administration that was not that truthful,” he said. “African Americans have a history with Tuskegee experiments and other things, so there is a hesitancy there, but what we’re doing is being as transparent as we can.”

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Recent surveys have indicated that minorities are more likely to be skeptical of the vaccine. Forty-three percent of black people said they would more than likely reject the vaccine, and 35% of Latinos said the same, higher than the overall totals, according to a recent poll.

Nearly 29 million cases of COVID-19 have been diagnosed in the United States, and 95.7 million vaccines have been administered, according to data reported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.