African Immigrant Health Groups Battle A Transatlantic Tide Of Vaccine Disinformation
Efforts to address hesitancy among Black people in America often overlook African immigrants, who get information from friends and family back home through social media platforms such as WhatsApp.
Switching between Swahili and English, Dr. Frank Minja asked the African immigrants on the Zoom call if they had any questions about the COVID-19 vaccine.
Minja, who is originally from Tanzania, was asked how to get the vaccine, how it works, whether it's safe.
Then one person asked him about a video promoting the conspiracy theory that the vaccine is part of a plot to reduce the Black race.
"That's the realm of nonsense and misinformation," he said.
