The FDA announced that a new vaccine
from Johnson & Johnson has been proven effective,
including against the coronavirus variants,
and could be hitting the streets this weekend.
Plus, unlike the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines,
it works with one dose
and doesn't need to be kept in freezers.
So, this vaccine is basically as low-maintenance
as you pretend to be on your first date.
And with vaccine availability improving,
more and more people are able to get their shots,
and experts actually say that America
will soon be giving out
nearly two million doses a day.
So, with 330 million Americans, two million doses a day,
that means the pandemic will be over in...
Six?
But this is still America,
which means not everyone
is getting access to the vaccines equally.
The big gap in who gets
the coronavirus vaccine in the U.S.
Information from 23 states
that report COVID vaccinations by race and ethnicity
shows a stark difference in the rollout.
NEWSWOMAN: Black Americans are hospitalized for COVID
at almost triple the rate
and are at least 1.5 times more likely
to die from this virus than white Americans.
But just over five percent
of Americans vaccinated are Black
versus more than 60% who are white.
NEWSMAN: Cities like Philadelphia and Chicago
with the Black population double or triple
the percent receiving COVID vaccine.
Unfortunately, in New York City,
we learned that we had managed to vaccinate
more non-New York City residents here in New York City
than we had vaccinated Black, Hispanic
and Native American New Yorkers combined.
Well, well, well,
if it isn't my old archnemesis, racism.
What are you doing here?
What's that?
Oh, you're pretty much everywhere?
Yeah, that's-that's a fair point.
But this is crazy, people.
According to the available data,
New York has vaccinated more out-of-towners
than minorities who actually live here in New York.
I mean, they need to beef up the screening process.
You know, like, before giving someone a shot,
just ask them to walk six feet on a sidewalk.
And then if they stop and look up at a building to admire it,
you send their ass back to Connecticut!
And this isn't just a New York problem.
This is an America problem.
Since Black people are getting sicker at a higher rate,
they should be getting vaccinated at a higher rate
because they need it more.
It's the same reason you hand out free condoms
on college campuses, not at a LARPing camp.
So, why are Black people falling so far behind?
Well, let's find out why in another installment
of If You Don't Know, Now You Know.
? ?
There are two universal truths to living in America.
One: every holiday is a mattress sale in disguise.
And two: the wealthier you are,
the easier it is to access life's necessities.
And, unfortunately, that's one big reason
why Black people are having a hard time
getting the vaccine.
Race and income really determine your access to resources,
um, and that's no different with, uh, COVID.
NEWSMAN: Studies show more than 30% of Black adults
don't have broadband Internet,
leaving many without information online
about where and how to get vaccinated.
If you don't have great high-speed Internet,
if you don't have a computer,
how can you jump in line to make an appointment?
NEWSWOMAN: Black residents are significantly more likely
than white residents to live more than a mile
from the closest vaccination facility.
Researchers also found Black people
are less likely than whites to live near a pharmacy,
clinic, hospital or health center
that can administer COVID-19 vaccines.
NEWSMAN 2: Over 50% of the Chicago Black communities
were so-called pharmacy deserts, low-income neighborhoods
where pharmacies are far from the population
and people don't have regular access to vehicles,
compared with just five percent in white communities.
NEWSWOMAN 2: San Francisco's pharmacy desert
is zip code 94124.
92% of the population is Black and Hispanic,
and there's only one retail pharmacy
for the more than 35,000 people who live there.
Where do they go if they don't have
a personal or primary care physician?
And the answer, in many cases, is there's nowhere to go.
That's right. Many Black neighborhoods
don't even have a pharmacy.
There are so few pharmacies that I'm surprised
Republicans haven't made them voting locations.
And this is especially messed up
because in most white neighborhoods,
there are pharmacies everywhere.
I mean, everywhere.
One time, I went into a Walgreens
that had a CVS inside of it.
And it's also crazy
how many people still don't even have broadband.
Before America makes vaccination appointments
dependent on high-speed Internet,
uh, maybe they should sign everyone up
for high-speed Internet.
And then a month later, once those people
are done going through all the Internet porn,
then they can get around to making an appointment.
So, if you don't have the Internet
to schedule an appointment
and you don't have a local pharmacy
to administer the shot
and you don't have transportation
to a vaccine distribution center,
what do you do?
I mean, at that point,
you might as well just make the vaccine yourself.
Which I tried, by the way,
but I didn't have any mRNA in my house,
so I just used barbecue sauce.
I mean, it didn't work, but my blood tastes delicious.
But for the Black community,
the barriers to getting vaccinated
go way beyond a lack of resources.
There's also a psychological barrier.
Many Black people are just reluctant to get the shot.
'Cause the truth is they trust the medical community
less than they trust the Golden Globes.
And that suspicion may seem irrational to outsiders,
but trust me,
it is grounded in some very real history.
There is, especially among the Black community,
a horrible history of mistreatment
that has created distrust in doctors and medicine.
WOMAN: African Americans were experimented on,
used, essentially, to justify the cruelty of slavery,
creating science.
WOMAN 2: This book from 1851
titled The Natural History of Human Species
echoed one of the most prevalent and dangerous beliefs
in medicine at the time:
that Black people did not feel pain or anxiety.
NEWSWOMAN: The federally sanctioned Tuskegee experiment
sought to examine the long-term effects of syphilis
by letting infected Black men go untreated
with no regard to the suffering it caused.
NEWSMAN: There was also Henrietta Lacks,
a mother of five who, in 1951,
sought treatment for a tumor.
She passed away later that year.
Scientists, without her consent or her family's knowledge,
harvested her cells for medical research.
NEWSWOMAN 2: The ties between race and medical treatment
have lasted hundreds of years
and are still alive in medicine today.
The University of Virginia conducted a study
of 200 white medical students in 2016.
40% thought Black skin was thicker than white skin.
The study also revealed that some doctors
think Black patients feel less pain.
Uh, excuse me?
Black people don't feel pain?
Well, I guess you've never met a man named Michael Jordan.
He's been crying about everything for ten years.
I mean, Black people invented the blues.
Nobody feels pain like Black people.
Except for Adele. That woman has been through some shit.
But this is why so many Black people
are suspicious of the medical community.
Because that community has betrayed them again
and again and again.
And you're not gonna trust people
who have betrayed you that many times.
Uh, unless you're Mike Pence.
But, unfortunately,
this mistrust actually hurts Black people,
because these vaccines are safe.
Believe me on this. White people would never let Martha Stewart
get one if it was dangerous.
I mean, if something ever happened to her,
they would have no idea how to match their centerpieces
to their napkin holders.
It would be chaos!
And because this anti-vaccine sentiment
is hurting the Black community,
Black leaders are now stepping in to try
and get the message out through an institution
that the community does trust, the church.
NEWSMAN: Black churches have long been a source of guidance
and strength for the community it serves.
It's the reason why Black clergy across the country
are teaming up with medical professionals
and local officials to educate and encourage people
to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
NEWSWOMAN: Dr. Anthony Fauci, in a virtual face-to-face
with Baltimore's faith and community leaders.
We need your help.
Part of a strategy aimed at getting a message in
to the Black community.
NEWSMAN 2: On Friday, Black pastors
from several Boston churches received their first round
of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine.
They're also here to educate and reassure
the minority community the vaccines are safe.
NEWSWOMAN 2: Reverend Liz Walker says she preaches
about three things: truth, love, and lowering anxiety.
Her focus now is spreading the truth about the vaccine.
Half her congregation says they won't take it.
Some believe God will save them.
I always respond that,
yes, you should put your trust in God.
But, remember, God uses doctors.
That's right.
God uses doctors.
I mean, not all doctors.
You know, Dr. Phil is the devil's work.
But doctors who are actually doctors,
well, they're doing the Lord's work.
And props to people like Dr. Fauci
for speaking to Black churches
and for not doing that thing that white people do
when they visit a Black church,
where they start talking like Martin Luther King, Jr.
"And I can tell you that we as a people
will get to herd immunity!"
"Hey, man, you can just use your normal voice."
(high-pitched): "Oh. Thank God.
(clears throat) My voice was killing me."
And if you ask me,
Black church is the number one place to reach Black people.
I mean, the only other place that would make sense
is a Verzuz on Instagram
and a Black barber shop.
But that one wouldn't work,
because then they'd just get sidetracked debating
which vaccine is the greatest of all time.
"No, man, listen up.
Polio is the greatest vaccine of all time!"
"The hell it is, man. What about mumps?"
"Mumps?!
Man, don't bring that mumps bullshit into my shop."
Look, the point is
encouraging vaccination through the church
is a great idea.
It's actually something that The Daily Show
wants to get behind,
which is why we asked Pastor Roy to help us out.
Thank y'all for logging on to the Lord this morning.
It has come to my attention that some of y'all
are looking at the COVID vaccine
the way Jesus looked at Judas during the Last Supper,
suspicious.
And, look, I understand that the medical community
has done unholy things to Black people.
But I’m here to tell you
to put your trust in the trinity
of Moderna, Pfizer,
and Johnson & Johnson.
'Cause if you get the 'rona,
Jesus can't put his hands on you.
He's social distancing.
So I want you to let Jesus
and that vaccine into your soul.
Or least into your left shoulder.
Look, I don't think y'all hear me.
-? ? -I said...
I want you to let Jesus and that vaccine into your soul!
See, I need some help in here.
Somebody get me my soldiers of the Lord.
-(clapping) -I want you to baptize yourself
in the healing waters of the vaccine!
Push out the Antichrist and let in the antibodies.
I want you vaccine atheists to believe.
Preach, brother!
Do not be led astray by false Facebook prophets.
Let the vaccination be your salvation
from your isolation.
Amen!
? Go outside! Go outside! ?
? Go outside! ?
(whoops)
Blessed are the immune,
for they shall inherit the earth,
from the movie theater to the gym,
all the way to the promised land of Red Lobster!
Now, I ain't gonna hold y'all up.
I think we made the point.
Also, I got to wrap this up.
My little boy got a clarinet lesson over Zoom.
I only paid for the free 40-minute version.
Uh, praise Jesus,
and God bless Dr. Fauci.
And I’ll see you next week for the booster shot.