“Faith in the COVID vaccine?”

Danielle Taana Smith, professor of African American studies and director of the Renée Crown Honors Program, was interviewed by The Cortland Standard for the story “Faith in the COVID vaccine?” Data from Pew Research Center shows that Black Americans are less likely to get the coronavirus vaccine, which Smith says is not surprising given historic discrimination and mistreatment in medicine. Smith explains that these histories have created a system of distrust within Black communities in relation to the vaccine, as history reinforces “the idea that Black bodies may be more expendable to ensure the greater public health good.”