Former WSB-TV anchor Monica Pearson joins Gov. Kemp to promote COVID-19 vaccines

This browser does not support the video element.

ATLANTA — You will notice a familiar face appearing alongside Governor Brian Kemp encouraging Georgians to get vaccinated.

Long time WSB-TV anchor Monica Kaufman Pearson is joining Kemp and his wife to share that important message.

[DOWNLOAD: Free WSB-TV News app for alerts as news breaks]

“Illness caused by COVID-19 affects our citizens, schools, healthcare heroes and our state’s economy,” Pearson said.

They all pointed out that they are all vaccinated.

This isn’t the first time Pearson has advocated for the COVID-19 vaccine. She admitted she was hesitant at first earlier this year, but when her close friends contracted the virus and were hospitalized, that’s when she decided to get the shot.

“So I said, ‘You know what? I need to go on and do this because at my age and also with having preexisting health conditions, it makes sense to do it,’” Pearson said.

Another reason is Pearson’s mother-in-law: Momma Jo is 90 and lives with them.

She ended up getting the vaccine at the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta.

[SIGN UP: WSB-TV Daily Headlines Newsletter]

“And I have to admit that that was part of my fear too, not only from the Tuskegee experiment but you know, growing up in Louisville, Kentucky. I always heard stories about how when Black people walk past the hospital, they would disappear because they were being used for experiments. So, you know, you have to really trust, and I trust the Morehouse School of Medicine. I trust Dr. Fauci. I trust my husband. So why not?” Pearson said.

This browser does not support the video element.