Cuomo: I Won't Get Vaccine Before Black, Latino, Poor Communities

LONG ISLAND, NY — Gov. Andrew Cuomo on Sunday said he will not get the coronavirus vaccination until it is available for disenfranchised communities hit hard by the pandemic.

Specifically, he said he will not be vaccinated until Black, Latino and poor communities have had access to the vaccination.

"I am committed to social and racial justice in the distribution of this vaccine," Cuomo said in pre-recorded remarks to the Abysinnian Baptist Church in New York City. "It will be available as fairly and as quickly as we can make it happen. Race or income will not determine who lives and who dies. And I mean it. And that's why I say to you today that I want to take the vaccine. I move around a lot and come into contact with many people and I would feel much safer if I took the vaccine, but I will not take the vaccine until the vaccine is available for my group in Black, Hispanic, and poor communities around the state."

State officials are hoping to vaccinate up to 90 percent of New Yorkers.

"That is an enormous number," Cuomo said. "Think of it — 90 percent of New Yorkers don't agree to do anything, let alone take a vaccine. This is not only an individual responsibility; it is a community obligation. There is a simplicity to the virus: no one is safe unless everyone is safe."

Cuomo said he understands the cynicism and skepticism some communities feel and said it was "not without cause." He referred to the Tuskegee Experiment, a 1930s study of hundreds of Black men who were told they were receiving free health care. In reality, federal researchers were monitoring them for the effects of syphilis and never revealed the diagnosis to the men.

"The Tuskegee Experiment is a terrible stain on the soul of this nation," Cuomo said. "The system does have biases and injustices. But that is not true in the case of this vaccine."

Cuomo said the vaccine needs to be available for all. "COVID exposed many existing injustices in our society," he said. "It showed us the health disparities that exist, and how many communities don't have fair access to healthcare. COVID showed that racism is a public health crisis also."

The coronavirus has killed Black people in America at two times the rate of white people, Cuomo said, based on data from Johns Hopkins University. Hispanic people have been killed at 1.5 times the rate of white people.

"Testing for COVID was more available in richer, whiter communities, and the infection rate was higher in Black, Hispanic and poor communities," Cuomo said. "This can't happen again, and it can't happen with this vaccine."

A vaccine task force will help raise awareness and ensure fair access to it in New York, Cuomo said. Mobile vaccination sites are slated to be brought to public housing authorities, churches and community centers around the state.