BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — Tuesday night’s virtual panel discussion hosted by Buffalo Promise Neighborhood and Westminster Community Charter School was all about answering questions with facts.
In Erie County, in communities with more minorities, COVID-19 vaccination rates are significantly lower compared to zip codes with a predominantly white population.
The Delavan-Grider center "Pop-Up" clinic was initially put in operation by NYS to address the disparity in vaccinations. As you can see the ZIP Codes in bold are severely lagging behind the vaccination rate of the ZIP Codes highlighted in green. pic.twitter.com/ylDt44VSko
— Mark Poloncarz (@markpoloncarz) March 2, 2021
The CEO of the Community Health Center of Buffalo, made sure to point out, the numbers are this way, not by choice.
“Dispel the myth that people of color, brown, Black, tan people do not want to take this vaccine. This is not true. However, our hesitancy is very real,” said Dr. LaVonne Ansari, the CEO of the Community Health Center of Buffalo.
Everyone on the panel agreed, more facts need to be provided about the vaccine, by experts.
“Is still worth it to get the covid vaccine given the different strains,” asked the moderator. “Absolutely, absolutely because it still protects against the current strains that are here,” said Dr. Kenyani Davis, the CMO of the Community Health Center of Buffalo.
What about the speed at which the vaccine was created?
“It does seem fast, but it's not really fast. So, we've actually been working, researchers have been working with this type of vaccine this messenger RNA type of vaccine for the past 10 years,” added Dr. Davis.
Experts harped on the source people are getting their information about the vaccine.
For more information on getting a COVID-19 vaccine you can click here.
