Marshawn Lynch discusses COVID vaccine hesitancy with Dr. Anthony Fauci
Marshawn Lynch had a remarkable career with the Seahawks from 2010 through 2015, and he’s been a pillar in the Oakland, CA community for a long time. Recently, Lynch expanded his activism to include an interview with Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the U.S. National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, and the chief medical advisor to the president. Lynch specifically wanted to address COVID vaccine hesitancy among members of Lynch’s community, specifically Black and Hispanic citizens.
“Education has and always will be key,” Lynch wrote on his YouTube channel. “I’m not telling you should or shouldn’t, I’m just using my platform to help educate y’all and me, so no matter what you do or don’t do, you have the information you need to make the best decision for you and yours.
“Let’s last, not come in last…”
Whole convo with Dr. Fauci droppin on https://t.co/LOhLazR5xr at 12pm. This discussion isn’t to tell y’all what to do or not do, there’s no hidden agendas, just wanted to get us educated so when it’s your time to make that call for you and yours. pic.twitter.com/9JrLNoZOu0
— Shawn Lynch (@MoneyLynch) April 16, 2021
A poll by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research in March found that about 24% of Black American adults said they will probably or definitely not get vaccinated. That’s down from 41% in January. The latest number shows Black Americans preferring not to get vaccinated in almost the same proportion as white Americans at 26% and Hispanic Americans at 22%.
“When it comes to the government giving back to communities that look like me, we don’t seem to be on the well-received end of those situations,” Lynch told Fauci during the interview, which was recorded in late April. “It gets to the point where it’s almost like a gamble.”
Fauci said that he completely understood the hesitancy.
“The reluctance you express is a reluctance that’s founded in historical reality,” he said. “So how do we get past that? And the reason why we’ve got to get past that is because we don’t want African Americans in the community to not have the advantage of the protection of something that really works because of history.”
Fauci also addressed the concerns that the vaccines were developed too quickly.
“Even though it was developed in less than a year to put into people, it took decades of work to get to that point,” he concluded.
You can watch the entire interview here. (Note: There is some NSFW language).
