- According to a report bythe National Urban League,

blacks are infected with COVID-19

at nearly three times the rate of whites

and blacks are twice aslikely to die from it.

Still, many don't plan to get the vaccine.

- I would not take the COVID-19 vaccine

just because it kindacame out really fast.

Just not certain about allthe potential side effects

that could come with the vaccine.

- I already have existingpre-existing health issues.

I would not want to put myself at risk

by taking a vaccine thathas not have enough time

to be developed in my opinion.

- [Charlene] A Pew Researchsurvey found only 32%

of black American adults,

answered they would either definitely

or probably take a COVID-19 vaccine.

And according to a reportby the COVID Collaborative,

just 14% trust the vaccine's safety.

To build confidence amongcommunities of color,

a group of black healthprofessionals put out this message.

- [Announcer] Dear Black America,

we love you.

We affirm that black lives matter.

We have locked arms in aninitiative to place the health

and safety of our community

at the heart of the nationalconversation about COVID-19.

- [Charlene] Dr. Reed Tuckson says

a vaccine can't come soon enough,

given the devastatingimpact he has witnessed.

- We know that this pandemicis now out of control

across this country and weare dying at such high rates,

just as the rest ofthe nation is now dying

at extraordinary rates.

- [Charlene] Tuckson admitsmuch of the hesitation

goes back to the TuskegeeSyphilis Experiment,

a 40-year government studyinvolving hundreds of black men.

The men mostly sharecropperssuffering from syphilis,

were monitored, but not treated.

Many died, went blind or experienced

other severe health problems.

- There are absolutely legitimate reasons

why we would be as peopledistrustful of government,

distrustful of the health enterprise,

the experience with aTuskegee back in the thirties.

- [Charlene] A historythat still haunts many.

- We've been used, othersget experimented on

for various vaccines or diseases,unethically in the past.

That's something I just don'twanna have to go through.

My ancestors went through it.

Is just something

I don't wanna have togo through personally.

- [Charlene] Dawn Baker, alocal news anchor in Savannah,

chose a different response,

taking part in clinicaltrials for the vaccine,

something she sees as part of the solution

to this deadly problem.

- I understand the fear.

I know the history, I knowabout the Tuskegee Experiment

which was absolutely brutal

and lasted 40 years in this country.

And even worse, after theyexperimented on those black men,

once the cure came out,

they wouldn't even give them the cure.

I would not have just goneto sign up to do this.

- [Charlene] Tuckson alsopoints out much has changed.

- We are in a different position,

I think when it comes to this issue.

That we cannot in my opinion,

allow our historical issues to cause us

to take actions thatwill lead to our demise

and our death and misery andsuffering in our community.

- [Charlene] In the meantime,he says the medical community

must earn the trust ofthose suffering from COVID,

as well as from themalpractice from the past.

- We have to make sure thatat every level of health

and medical care delivery,

that the people that are doing that

are comporting themselves,

with the highest level ofintegrity that respects the life

and the dignity andthe worth and the value

of every single person andparticularly people of color.

- [Charlene] Charlene Aaron, CBN News.