As states roll out coronavirus vaccination plans, confronting skepticism in the hardest-hit communities is a top priority for local officials.
Among those spreading the word that the vaccine is safe and effective is Rep. Adriano Espaillat (D-N.Y. 13th District), who represents Harlem and much of Upper Manhattan.
"Certainly there's been an ugly history of vaccines in America," Espaillat told Cheddar. "Many folks were used as guinea pigs."
The representative referred to unethical clinical studies from the past such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in which the U.S. government promised hundreds of African-American sharecroppers free health care despite never actually administering treatment.
Now Espaillat is reaching out to constituents in his district to make the case that a lot has changed since those injustices took place.
"I ask everyone to save themselves and their families by taking this vaccine," he said. "This is not like the 1930s or the late 40s or when these experiments were happening in our communities."
Yet, elected officials still have a wide chasm to bridge in communities of color.
An Associated Press poll found that just 24 percent of Black respondents said they would get the COVID-19 vaccine, while 40 percent said they would not be getting it. Hispanics were close behind with 34 percent saying they would, and 26 percent saying they would not.
This compares with 53 percent of white respondents who said they would get the vaccine and just 25 percent who said they would not.
Espaillat explained that government response to the virus so far — which has been marked by moments of inconsistency from national leaders — has led to some of the uncertainty around the vaccine as well.
"Too many people have died in our communities, and I think it's smart and important to protect yourself and your families," he said.
A legislative package to end the government shutdown appears on track. A handful of Senate Democrats joined with Republicans to advance the bill after what's become a deepening disruption of federal programs and services. But hurdles remain. Senators are hopeful they can pass the package as soon as Monday and send it to the House. What’s in and out of the bipartisan deal has drawn criticism and leaves few senators fully satisfied. The legislation includes funding for SNAP food aid and other programs while ensuring backpay for furloughed federal workers. But it fails to fund expiring health care subsidies Democrats have been fighting for, pushing that debate off for a vote next month.
Sabrina Siddiqui, National Politics Reporter at The Wall Street Journal, joins to break down the SNAP funding delays and the human cost of the ongoing shutdown.
Arguments at the Supreme Court have concluded for the day as the justices consider President Donald Trump's sweeping unilateral tariffs in a trillion-dollar test of executive power.
President Donald Trump said he has decided to lower his combined tariff rates on imports of Chinese goods to 47% after talks with Chinese leader Xi Jinping on curbing fentanyl trafficking.
The Federal Reserve cut its key interest rate Wednesday for a second time this year as it seeks to shore up economic growth and hiring even as inflation stays elevated. The move comes amid a fraught time for the central bank, with hiring sluggish and yet inflation stuck above the Fed’s 2% target. Compounding its challenges, the central bank is navigating without much of the economic data it typically relies on from the government. The Fed has signaled it may reduce its key rate again in December but the data drought raises the uncertainty around its next moves. Fed Chair Jerome Powell told reporters that there were “strongly differing views” at the central bank's policy meeting about to proceed going forward.
