New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo has assured Sunday that the coronavirus vaccine will not be given until members of minority communities in their same age group have access to it to ensure it is distributed equally.
“I am committed to social and racial justice in the distribution of this vaccine“Cuomo said in a video message aired Sunday during a Mass at Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem.” Race or income will not determine who lives or who dies. And I mean it, “he insisted.
“I move a lot and get in touch with a lot of people and I would feel a lot safer if I got vaccinated, but I’m not going to get the vaccine until it’s available to people in my group in black, Hispanic, and poor New York communities. “, he added.
In his speech, the governor stressed that covid-19 has “exposed many existing injustices in our society” such as “health-related disparities and how many communities do not have fair access to health care“At the same time he recalled that the coronavirus has killed twice as many black citizens in the US as whites, and 1.5 times more Hispanics.
He also explained that coronavirus testing was more available in white and wealthy communities even though the infection rate was higher in black, Hispanic and poor areas.
That’s why the state has formed a task force to make sure the same doesn’t happen with the vaccine, and has announced mobile units that will travel to public housing complexes, churches and community centers across New York.
“Until the vaccine is available in the southern Bronx, eastern Buffalo, and Wyandanch, and southern Jamaica, and Edgerton and eastern Utica, our health care deserts, our work is not over, ”said Cuomo, who also urged citizens to come and get vaccinated.
“I will fulfill my part, but you must fulfill yours,” he added.