NBA Hall of Famer Spencer Haywood has teamed up with a local Las Vegas medical school to help battle hesitancy of the COVID-19 vaccine and overall mistrust of the health care system among communities of color.
The former Olympic gold medalist, who is inspired by his daughter Shaakira, who is a doctor, has joined the dean’s advisory committee at Roseman University College of Medicine to help assist with programs that increase diversity in medicine.
In an interview with ABC News Live, Haywood shared his thoughts on the cause:
“This crisis that we are facing in the African American community, in particular, in the Hispanic community— we are not being vaccinated because of the fear. There’s misinformation that’s going out, you know, about the vaccine.“
Haywood went on to say that encouraging more people of color to enter the medical profession can help increase engagement and trust within the community.
It helps when you have a person of your own ilk and your color to come to you and say, ‘Hey, you know, it’s OK to get the vaccine”
