JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Mayo Clinic is hosting several free virtual town halls over the next two weeks to answer questions and address any misconceptions about the Covid-19 vaccine.
“Unfortunately, there is still a bit of concern and maybe a bit of mistrust around the vaccine,” said Dr. Richard White, Mayo Clinic Internal Medicine Community Relations.
During an interview on The Morning Show on Saturday, White told News4Jax some of the concern stems from how fast the vaccine became available but said no scientific corners were cut.
“This vaccine is effective, the vaccine is safe and we’re strongly encouraging people to get the vaccine,” White said.
Mayo Clinic is partnering with several groups to host two virtual town halls. The goal is to address concerns surrounding the vaccine and build trust, especially with those in minority communities.
“One of the interesting and great things about this particular vaccine is about 25% of participants in the trial were Hispanic, about 9% of them were African-American, so people of color were involved in the development of this trial and that’s one of the things we are emphasizing to let communities know that this vaccine has been tested among people that look like us and we were involved in the process,” White said.
The virtual town halls will take place over the next two weeks:
Jan. 28: Virtual Town Hall for Minority Communities of Faith, 7-8:30 p.m. Here is the link to register.
Feb. 4: Virtual Town Hall Hispanic/LatinX Community, 7-8:30 p.m. Here is the link to register.