The anti-poverty group FPWA on Monday announced it would begin a push to improve vaccination rates in New York and within Black communities amid hesitancy concerns among people of color.

The group launched a request for proposals effort for community groups and faith-based organizations to help boost vaccination rates as the delta variant of COVID-19 has become a predominant concern in the effort to end the pandemic. The goal for grant recipients is to tailor their vaccination message toward combating misinformation within individual communities while also boosting confidence for the vaccination's effectiveness and safety.

Vaccinated people are far less likely to be hospitalized for COVID-19 or die from the virus.

FPWA was among the five non-profit groups receiving grant money from New York as part of a $15 million program announced last month by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to combat vaccination hesitancy, especially among communities of color. Overall, the group received $5.5 million to support vaccine outreach efforts.

The challenge for public health and government officials, in part, is counteracting a history of medical experiments on Black people in the United States, which has in turn fueled mistrust.

State data shows of the New York residents who have received the vaccination, 70.8% are white, and only 12.6% are Black, the lowest vaccination rate of any demographic in the state.