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Hartsville, Tenn., resident Rick Bradley, 62, received his first COVID-19 vaccine dose in late March at a local Walgreens, saying, "This is not a summer cold or a conspiracy." He says some neighbors have become so used to COVID-19 that getting vaccinated has fallen off the priority list.

'It's Not A Never Thing' — White, Rural Southerners Hesitant To Get COVID Vaccine

A majority of white, rural conservatives in Tennessee are open to getting the vaccine at some point, but at least 45% won't consider it. Rates in Alabama, Georgia and Mississippi are also lagging.

Maxine Toler, who lives near Los Angeles, has been asking neighbors why they do or do not want the vaccine. But it's the health inequities of today, not the infamous "Tuskegee Study," that Toler hears about when she talks to Black friends and neighbors about the COVID-19 vaccine.

Stop Blaming Tuskegee, Critics Say. It's Not An 'Excuse' For Current Medical Racism

The Tuskegee syphilis study is often cited as a reason why Black Americans might hesitate on the COVID-19 vaccine. But many say it's current racism in health care and Tuskegee is used as an excuse.

In December 2019, Cynthia Carrillo placed her older brother David at Villa Mesa Care Center, a nursing home in Upland, Calif. After the shutdown in March of 2020, Cynthia Carrillo couldn't visit David inside Villa Mesa. One month later, David, 65, who had Down syndrome, died from COVID-19.

In California, Nursing Home Owners Can Operate After They're Denied A License

Nursing home chain ReNew Health continues to care for hundreds of patients even after the state attempted to crack down. Before and during the pandemic, homes connected to ReNew had safety violations.

In between answering 911 calls, Jerrad Dinsmore (left) and Kevin LeCaptain perform a wellness check at the home of a woman in her nineties. The ambulance team in the small town of Waldoboro, Maine was already short-staffed. Then a team member quit recently, after the state mandated all health care workers get the COVID-19 vaccine.

In Maine, a looming vaccine deadline for EMTs is stressing small-town ambulance crews

Statewide, the COVID vaccination rate for first responders is more than 95%. But it's not as high in more rural areas, where ambulance crews can't function if just a few people quit.

The U.S. Coast Guard and U.S. Navy brought four divers back to their families after a search aircraft spotted an SOS strobe.

Coast Guard says 4 divers who went missing off S.C. coast were found alive

The divers plunged into the Atlantic Ocean off a pleasure craft more than 60 miles from Myrtle Beach, S.C. It wasn't until after midnight that they were seen again.

Sumaya Muhamed and her mother, Suad Abdulla, tout the latter's second vaccine dose at the Salahadeen Center in Nashville, Tenn. After weeks of affectionate cajoling and patient explanation, Muhamed convinced her mother to get the shot.

For Kurdish Americans In Nashville, A Beloved Leader's Death Prompts Vaccine Push

Some immigrant groups are closing the ethnic gap on COVID-19 shots. For many Kurdish Americans, their fears about vaccination are entangled with their experiences in refugee camps after fleeing Iraq.

California Assembly member Buffy Wicks, a Democrat, speaks on the chamber floor in January 2020. In 2019, on the 46th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, she told the story of her own abortion.

California lawmakers ramp up efforts to become a sanctuary state for abortion rights

California lawmakers are considering 13 bills that would expand access to abortion and welcome women from states where abortion is being banned or restricted.

Stephanie Rimel looks at a photo of her brother Kyle Dixon, 27, who died of COVID-19 on Jan. 20. She says that during his illness and after his death, some people made insensitive comments or denied the pandemic's reality.

When COVID Deaths Are Dismissed Or Stigmatized, Grief Is Mixed With Shame And Anger

After their brother died, two sisters faced a barrage of misinformation, pandemic denialism and blaming questions. Grief experts say that makes COVID-19 the newest kind of "disenfranchising death."

A movie released online by Children's Health Defense, an anti-vaccine group headed by Robert F. Kennedy Jr., resurfaces disproven claims about the dangers of vaccines and targets its messages at Black Americans who may have ongoing concerns about racism in medical care.

An Anti-Vaccine Film Targeted To Black Americans Spreads False Information

A recent movie produced by Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s anti-vaccine group tries to capitalize on the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial justice movement and renewed interest in the history of medical racism.

Once On The Brink Of Eradication, Syphilis Is Raging Again

Syphilis cases in California have contributed to soaring national caseloads of sexually transmitted diseases. Experts point to the advent of dating apps, decreased condom use and an increase in meth.

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