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Trusted Vaccine Messengers in Camden Have Their Work Cut Out for Them

Kimberly Paynter
/
WHYY
Javan Rankines, a barber and the owner of a cleaning business in Camden, N.J., was recruited to spread the word about the COVID-19 vaccine to his customers.

Health care professionals say a person weighing the benefits of the COVID-19 vaccine is more likely to be swayed by someone they know than a celebrity or politician they’ve never met.

But as WHYY’s Ximena Conde reports, an effort to get Camden barbers to act as those trusted messengers shows how hard fighting vaccine misinformation really is.

(Original air-date: 9/7/21)