The president's top coronavirus adviser, Dr. Anthony Fauci, met Friday with a group of Baltimore ministers to ask for their help in getting minority communities vaccinated against the coronavirus.


Fauci, the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, repeatedly acknowledged a long history of mistrust of medicine and research among the Black community.

"We need your help," Fauci said.

As part of the Biden administration's plan to increase the rate of vaccination in Black and brown communities, Fauci tried to persuade the ministers to make their churches centers of reliable information about the COVID-19 vaccine.

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To date, about 4% of Maryland's population has received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. According to data provided by the White House, white people are being vaccinated at a disproportionately higher rate than Black and brown people.

Black people make up 31.1% of Maryland's population but are 15.1% of those vaccinated. Hispanic and Latino people make up 10.6% of Maryland's population but are 4% of people vaccinated.

In the virtual meeting held with ministers, Fauci tried to break down barriers, first by acknowledging that many people of color feel that medicine has used them as guinea pigs: "What about the safety and efficacy? Is it safe, and is it effective? Should I believe the government? Heck, they lied to us so many times, why should I believe them now?"

Ministers raised issues of access to the vaccine, which has proven to be hard to reach. Fauci said the Biden plan sets up community sites and mobile vaccination vans. Read more at WBALTV