Only 9% of Black people vaccinated in Riverside County so far, community members aim to improve stats

New numbers from Riverside County show that less than 10 percent of the local Black community has been vaccinated so far. 

News Channel 3’s Madison Weil spoke with community members hoping to improve that statistic. 

Yvonne Dove is a volunteer at Desert Regional Medical Center. She just received her second dose of the Moderna vaccine on Friday. 

“I feel awesome,” said Dove. 

Same goes for Larry Jacobs, a Cytotechnology Specialist who works at the center. 

“I feel good. No issues,” said Jacobs. 

Both shared their own experiences with News Channel 3, hoping to set an example for others.  

“It’s responsible. It’s something that’s needed for my safety and people around me,” said Jacobs. 

And for Dove, she says the decision is also personal. “I have close friends that died. Younger than me. So it’s really important to get the vaccine,” she said. 

Dove says she knows many people personally who are apprehensive. “The Black people I know are very adamant about not taking the vaccine. They don’t think it’s going to help them,” she said. 

County numbers reflect that only 9% of Black people living in Riverside County have been vaccinated so far. That’s in comparison with 19% of white people. 

“We need to be sure that we recognize that we have a history in this country of abusing Black and Brown people,” Grace Garner, City Council Member, Palm Springs District 1. 

Garner says these lower vaccination numbers are the result of not only current inequality, but also decades of history and abuse that have fostered mistrust when it comes to medicine. 

“Of course there might be some concern about this vaccine because of that history. When you look back at the Tuskegee experiment and forced sterilizations, there have been a lot of horrible things that have been done to communities of color in this country,” said Garner. 

To achieve more equitable vaccine numbers, Garner and others agree community conversations are key. 

“I think in individual families that’s where it’s going to start. In churches,” said Jacobs. 

It's a sentiment shared by Pastor Schezarone Carter in his own church: “We will definitely encourage our members and our community to partake of this vaccine,” he said.

Carter added that many members of his church are elderly and more vulnerable to COVID. “We have to take advantage of the knowledge that will help us to live better and to get back to normal...we need to do that,” he said.