Bill and Melinda Gates hope to deliver their COVID-19 vaccines to Black Americans first. In an interview with Forbes magazine, the philanthropic billionaire couple said they want to distribute their vaccines based on racial groups first.
Melinda said “Black people” and “indigenous people” should receive their vaccines first, particularly if they work in the health field.
“One of the reasons we are so involved in this is that you don’t want the first vaccines to go to the highest-bidding countries,” Melinda Gates said. “There are 60 million healthcare workers. They deserve to get the vaccine first, they’re the ones dealing with this on the front lines, trying to keep us all safe.”
Melinda went on to say Black people in America should receive the vaccines next.
“Then you have to start to tier from there, based on the countries and the populations. Here in the United States, it’s going to be black people who really should get it first and many indigenous people, as well as people with underlying symptoms, and then elderly people.”
According to some reports, 1 in 4 Black people in America have been impacted by the virus.
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has lent financial support to finding a vaccine for COVID-19 since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.
They have donated to Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, which the foundation claims will work to pay for and distribute doses of the vaccine to low-income countries.
