Offset says he’s not willing to get coronavirus vaccine amid distrust in government

‘I don’t trust it’: Offset says he’s not willing to get coronavirus vaccine amid distrust in government and ongoing systemic inequalities related to race and status

Offset says he does not trust the new Pfizer coronavirus vaccine enough to take it, pointing to potential early medical problems as result of the fast-developed vaccine in addition to systemic inequalities related to race, money and status.

‘I just don’t want be the test dummy,’ the 28-year-old Migos rapper told TMZ, saying he didn’t trust the government to look out for the needs of Black people.

Asked what would instill his trust in the government, the Georgia native suggested, ‘Do something to help the black community in real life; put in some policies to help us.’

The latest: Offset, 28, says he does not trust the new Pfizer coronavirus vaccine enough to take it, pointing to potential early medical problems as result of the fast-developed vaccine in addition to systemic inequalities related to race, money and status

The rap artist, whose real name is Kiari Kendrell Cephus, said he would not be moved if he saw former President Barack Obama taking the vaccine in real-time.

‘No because we are blessed, certain people in certain opportunities get certain things,’ he said, referring to the celebrity he and Obama have that opens up a world of privilege.

He referenced former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani getting preferential treatment since his positive diagnosis.

‘Like what’s that politician that had that brown s*** running down his face? He just said that having celebrity status [helped] for his COVID-19 treatment, so I think a lot of that happens in real life,’ he said, referencing that his own fame and status would likely get him a spot at the front of the line.

A Brazilian researcher held a vaccine produced by a Chinese company this past August

A Brazilian researcher held a vaccine produced by a Chinese company this past August 

Onstage: The Migos rapper was seen performing at the iHeartRadio Music Festival this past fall

Onstage: The Migos rapper was seen performing at the iHeartRadio Music Festival this past fall

‘Like if I go to the hospital here they’re going to admit me fast they’re going to get me in faster than normal person which ain’t really fair,’ he said. ‘I wouldn’t want to do that because people who don’t have what I got, they don’t have the opportunity so it ain’t fair and people dying from that s*** – a lot of people, a lot of Black people.’

The rapper’s remarks come in the wake of a study that indicated that less than 25 percent of Black Americans said they’d get the vaccine if it was instantly approved, according to a survey from the AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research. 

Boxes containing Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine are unloaded from air shipping containers at UPS Worldport, in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday

Boxes containing Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine are unloaded from air shipping containers at UPS Worldport, in Louisville, Kentucky on Sunday

Another 40 percent said they definitely don’t plan on getting the shot and 36 percent are unsure.

Black Americans are particularly wary of the shot, despite the fact that they’ve suffered a disproportionate share of the US’s coronavirus deaths, as Black or Latinx person is nearly three times more likely to die of COVID-19 than a white person, and about four times more likely to be hospitalized for the infection.

A long and dark history of distrust in medicine precedes the current pandemic: US doctors conducted horrific experiments and research on Black Americans without their full consent, including the Tuskegee Syphilis experiment, as recently as the 1970s.