according to ana espino executive director at the alabama coalition for immigrant justice language presents a huge barrier to covid testing access too because people dont have the information distributed out in any other language other than english in addition diverse messaging is needed to ensure all communities understand the information more minority communities distrust of covid19 vaccine poses challenge residents in rural communities of color are grappling not only with a pervasive distrust of the vaccines and the health care system but with multiple obstacles as vaccine distribution begins including lack of accessibility to medical facilities dr meshia wallace a pulmonary physician talks about her experiences treating covid19 patients dec 10 2020 in opelika ala julie bennettap in a briefing on dec 16 army general gustave perna the coo of operation warp speed the trump administrations program to accelerate vaccine rollout described minor mishaps with delivery in alabama including when shipments of the vaccine arrived but had been stored at the wrong temperature people wait for the funeral procession of civil rights icon former rep john lewis on july 26 2020 in montgomery ala jessica mcgowangetty images file tuskegee where bullie resides is ground zero for the infamous 1930s syphilis study the trials which included more than 30000 volunteers each demonstrated that the vaccines work equally well among people of all races and ethnicities but bullie whos also president of the tuskegeemacon county branch of the naacp said that skepticism about the vaccine within the african american community stems from the history of the united states government experimenting on black people and years of mistreatment when the vaccine becomes available to the general public people living in rural communities will have to travel far distances to access larger hospitals in cities where doses can be stored properly in refrigerated units simelton said now that the vaccine is out we dont want to make the same mistakes she added the two fdaauthorized covid19 vaccines are more than 95 effective at preventing symptomatic illness and side effects reported are minor state public health systems already overextended due to the pandemic will be responsible for ensuring the daytoday delivery and accessibility to rural residents abc news mark nichols contributed to this report distrust is not the only challenge in providing rural communities vaccines in parts of rural america vaccine delivery is set to run into unique health care barriers including understaffed clinics lack of refrigerated storage units for vaccines and hardtoreach residents living miles away from major hospitals experts say according to the health resources and services administration 646 of the rural counties in alabama are considered health professional shortage areas lacking enough primary care dental and mental health providers to service residents geographic isolation and workforce shortage in rural area hospitals across america add to the burden of providing vaccination people started to remember tuskegee additionally 557 of the rural population in alabama is without adequate health care services hrsa said the us public