In Far Rockaway, where death seemed inescapable last year as New York become the global center of the outbreak, a shortage of resources is partially to blame. The ZIP code, for example, won’t be included in a new $15 million state program to encourage holdouts to get their shots. But a wariness of official information is also discouraging the mostly Black neighborhood from getting inoculated.

Wright echoed what many others in Far Rockaway and nearby Edgemere told POLITICO in more than a dozen interviews in recent weeks: They don’t believe the vaccine is safe. They cited a range of reasons for their skepticism — from the infamous Tuskegee experiment, to a wait-and-see mentality, to a general distrust of government after centuries of abuse, racism and systemic inequality in health care in New York and around the country.

Wright says she’s not tempted by the city’s new $100 vaccination incentive nor the surfeit of evidence showing the vaccine’s effectiveness; she says she’s too put off after an acquaintance experienced side effects from the shot.