KC Mayor Quinton Lucas gets COVID vaccine, urges other Black residents to do the same
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas is the latest public official to publicize his COVID-19 vaccination in an effort to show others the inoculation is safe.
The mayor received the first of two doses of the Moderna vaccine Thursday, his office reported.
“I opted to receive the COVID vaccine not only to keep those around me safe, but because I think it’s important for everybody throughout our many different communities in Kansas City to know that the vaccine is safe, that it’s a fairly easy, painless process, and that this is the next step to addressing COVID-19,” Lucas said in a statement on Friday.
He went on to address specific concerns about the vaccines among minority communities.
Black Americans, in particular, are more hesitant of COVID-19 vaccinations, according to the Pew Research Center.
In an early December poll, only 42 percent of Black respondents said they would receive a vaccine, compared with 63% of Hispanic and 61% of white adults.
The pandemic has disproportionately hurt communities of color, who have higher rates of underlying health conditions, less access to healthcare and are more likely to be front-line workers.
Lucas said the city would focus on an equitable distribution of the vaccine as doses become more available.
“I know that in some communities—certainly the African American community I’m from and others—some have had some concerns about the vaccine: it’s safety and whether it’s something they should do,” the mayor’s statement said. “I’m here to say that you should. It’s pretty painless, and, importantly, it’s an important tool that’s really going to help our community overcome COVID-19.”
His message is part of a wider national campaign aimed at convincing Black Americans of the safety and importance of the COVID-19 vaccines. People of color were less likely to enroll in vaccine clinical trials as many distrust the wider healthcare system, which has consistently provided uneven care to minorities.
As many consider the vaccine, they’re pointing back to the U.S. government’s 1932 Tuskegee Study. That 40-year experiment deceived hundreds of Black men who were suffering from syphilis and withheld treatment.
Reed Tuckson, founder of the D.C.-based Black Coalition Against Covid-19, said that legacy reverberates throughout Black America today. A doctor on the Howard University Board of Trustees, his group is gathering physicians and faith leaders together to help convince Black communities to trust the vaccines.
“We are taking great pains to help folks understand that what existed in the 1930s is very different today, in 2020,” Tuckson told The Washington Post last month. “That there are research scientists of color who are in positions of authority all across the research and medical enterprise.”
