Vaccine hesitancy persists in African American community

JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) - As President Biden continues to push for more Americans to get vaccinated by July 4, we looked deeper into the data of people that already received the vaccine.

Leaders continue to push for more people to get vaccinated, but Region 8 News wanted to check the data to see if that is really happening.

Around 40% of the United States population is fully vaccinated.

Here in Craighead County, that number drops to 30%.

Inside that 30%, only around 14% are African American.

Officials say vaccine hesitancy is real in this country, but especially in the African American community, which is lagging behind in getting the shot.

The president of the Craighead County NAACP was asked her thoughts of why this is happening.

“We have trust issues, a lot of us because of some history of things that have been done in the past. SO, a lot of us are skeptical. We want to wait and see,” says president, Emma Agnew.

Agnew also mentioned that spirituality and economic factors are playing a part in African Americans not going out to get the vaccine right now.

The NAACP is hosting a free vaccine clinic on June 12 with the help of Woodsprings Pharmacy, making the vaccine more accessible for some.

The clinic will be at Parker Park.

Copyright 2021 KAIT. All rights reserved.