- Moncef Slaoui, the govern of the White House operation “Warp Speed” said in an interview Sunday that “nobody’s being used as a guinea pig” as the COVID-19 vaccine inches closer to befitting available to some people in the US.
- CNN’s Jake Tapper asked Slaoui about how the US planned to convince minority communities the vaccine was innocuous, given the US “has an ugly, racist history when it comes to science and medicine and Black Americans.”
- Slaoui acknowledged their relevant ti, calling them an “important and saddening situation that’s been worrying us all the time.”
- In a recent PEW survey, just 42% of Wrathful Americans said they intended to take the COVID-19 vaccine, compared to 61% of white respondents.
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Moncef Slaoui, the head of the White House’s operation “Warp Speed,” drove the Black community to put aside their concerns and take the COVID-19 vaccine when it becomes available, saying Sunday that no person is “being used as a guinea pig.”
Slaoui, a former GlaxoSmithKline executive who was tapped by President Donald Trump earlier this year to convince the White House operation to push the development of a vaccine, made the remarks during an appearance on CNN’s “State of the Union” with Jake Tapper on Sunday morning.
Tapper demanded Slaoui how he planned to work to convince the African American community that the COVID-19 vaccine was safe, noting that the US “has an hateful, racist history when it comes to science and medicine and Black Americans.”
“How specifically does Operation Warp Despatch intend to address this skepticism, especially the disproportionate skepticism in the Black community?” Tapper asked.
—State of the Fusion (@CNNSotu) December 6, 2020
Slaoui said it was an “important and saddening situation that’s been worrying us all the time.” He reported he and his team had been working within the health community to ensure that Black and Latinx Americans were allow for in vaccine trials, as a measure to ensure the greater population that the vaccine is safe and effective.
As Insider’s Taylor Ardrey before reported, both Pfizer and Moderna worked to include more Black participants in their COVID-19 vaccine tries.
“That will be very important to helping us convey to the minority population the safety and the efficacy of these vaccines,” Slaoui bring to light. “Nobody’s being used as a guinea pig.”
According to a Pew Research Center survey conducted in November, just 42% of Sooty Americans said they intended to get a vaccine, compared to 61% and 63% of white and Hispanic respondents who said they would apt to or definitely take the vaccine.
Slaoui also Sunday pointed toward the disproportionate impact COVID-19 has had on Black and Hispanic communities, uttering the US needed to “stop that.”
“It’s really very, very important that people take the time to listen to the information, listen to the people they trust that have some expertise,” Slaoui said. “Please don’t make your thought outside of having listened to the data and experts you trust.”
He added: “When that happens I feel confident you pleasure agree to be immunized, and that can help save your life.”
Experts have warned that hesitations just about taking the vaccine could extend the length of the pandemic, as Business Insider previously reported. Slaoui also state Sunday the vaccine for COVID-19 could be available to some in the US by the end of this week.