Jill Biden visited Harlem on Sunday hoping to persuade residents to get vaccinated against the Wuhan coronavirus. It’s a worthy task and not an easy one given all the effort the left has expended trying to persuade Blacks that they can’t trust either Whites or the government.
According to data from the New York City health department, only 29 percent of Black New Yorkers have received at least one shot, compared with 45 percent of White New Yorkers. In Harlem, which is almost entirely Black and Hispanic, vaccination rates hover between 39 and 46 percent, while the average in Manhattan as a whole is 64 percent.
The Washington Post was in Harlem to cover Biden’s visit. The title of its report is “Can Jill Biden help move the needle on vaccination rates?”
Whatever suspense this question might have produced vanishes in the first three paragraphs:
When Monique Harouna, 51, showed up at a vaccination center in the historic Abyssinian Baptist Church in Harlem, New York’s most famous predominantly Black neighborhood, on Sunday, she knew there was a to-do going on. The Secret Service was outside doing security searches, plus dozens of cameras were crowded around, with an Eyewitness News 7 van parked outside. Yet, it was still a surprise when first lady Jill Biden, accompanied by infectious-disease expert Anthony S. Fauci and Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.), walked over to shake her hand.
“Hi, I’m Jill,” said Biden, as Harouna did a double take.
“They told us Michelle Obama was coming,” Harouna said later, in an interview. “That’s what I heard. So, she’s not coming?”
The event at the Harlem church apparently did induce some to get vaccinated. However, the Post suggests that this was largely due to the presence of religious leaders.
Michelle Obama might have added value to the efforts of the religious leaders. But Jill Biden? I don’t think so.
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