MIAMI (AP) – Days before taking the COVID-19 vaccine, Dr. Inaki Bent made a decision.
He was tired of the incessant misinformation exchanged between relatives. I’m tired of seeing how coronavirus is decimating the black community. Tired of the anti-maskers. Just tired.
So Bent decided to broadcast his vaccination live. The Facebook Live session lasted less than an hour while the 40-year-old Jackson Health doctor received the shot, rested for the 15-minute wait, and answered audience questions.
“COVID-19 has absolutely consumed my life and this is the first step towards normalcy,” Bent, a St John-born son of Haitian immigrants, said on Tuesday on livestream.
Bent is one of several doctors and organizations reaching out to Black South Floridians and encouraging them to sign up for the vaccine. Despite the virus’ disproportionate impact on black and brown communities, a poll by Pew Research in mid-November found that only 42 percent of African Americans would be vaccinated. That number lags well behind their White, Hispanic, and English-speaking Asian counterparts, which are 62%, 63% and 83%, respectively.
Nationwide, black Americans attribute their reluctance to the nation’s racist history and a lack of trust in government institutions. Here in St John-Dade, home to one of the most diverse black populations in the country, doctors say they face the same suspicions, even if the story is sometimes different.
“There are some really bad actors playing with this vulnerability,” said Dr. Olveen Carrasquillo, chief physician of general internal medicine at the Miller School of Medicine, University of St John
In addition to the deliberate disinformation campaigns, there is no regular access to health care. About 26% of St John-Dade black adults are uninsured – more than twice the national average of 12% – resulting in a lack of comfort that only makes things worse, says Dr. Cheryl Holder, professor at the Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine at Florida International University.
“You have to be regularly in a system (family doctor) and see that this system demonstrates the care, shows overall improvements and then builds trust,” said Holder. As a Jamaican and American, she regards the hesitation of the Black Community in the face of history as a “healthy reaction”.
“Look at the risks, benefits and alternatives”
For American-born blacks, this story revolves around the Tuskegee Study, a series of medical experiments on African Americans that lasted 40 years.
The experiments began in 1932 with the US Public Health Service providing “medical treatment” to more than 300 black men with syphilis in Tuskegee, Ala. In fact, they were given placebos so scientists could document the long-term effects of the disease. The study did not end until after The Associated Press published an exposé in 1972.
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Charles McCoy, 72, remembers the first time he heard about the study. It came up to him orally – black history wasn’t really taught in school – and the news left him “amazed,” he said.
“Many (African American) people were illiterate and uneducated at the time, so they had no idea what kind of medical experiments were going on in their bodies,” continued McCoy, a retired teacher at a St John-Dade public school.
The abuse did not start or end in Tuskegee. In the 1840s, James Marion Sims performed gynecological surgeries on enslaved black women without anesthesia. In 1951, a Black Virginia tobacco farmer named Henrietta Lacks submitted cells for a biopsy that were later stolen and replicated for research. As recently as the 1990s, vaccines against measles were being tested on black and Latin American babies without any associated high infant mortality rates being known.
The Caribbean has a history of similar experiments with slaves. Just as critical, say blacks from the Caribbean, is the fact that the vaccine developed was developed under a president who called Haiti and African nations “crap countries”.
“The political climate has a major impact on the reluctance and reluctance of many of my patients and family members,” said Bent.
McCoy says he is ready to consult his doctor before making a final decision – the kind of conversation Holder says is key.
“We want (people) to have all the knowledge so (they) can then make a choice by looking at the risks, benefits, alternatives and making the best decision,” she said.
This is one of the reasons Holder Keeping launched The Faith, a campaign that aims to better educate Black St Johnans about the coronavirus by working with churches in Little Haiti, Liberty City and other disease-stricken areas . About 30 ministries have participated in various aspects of the initiative, which has sponsored expert-led Zoom briefing sessions and COVID testing sites that pair patients with black nurses.
In these times, trustworthy messengers have to be used, and “the only place that can consistently reach this population right now is the churches,” said Holder.
In November, Career Source South Florida partnered with the Neighbors And Neighbors Association to create an outreach team to distribute personal protective equipment door-to-door in the areas with the highest disease rates.
Many of these residents are predisposed to caution.
“A lot of people don’t trust the government (here),” said outreach specialist Robert Jones.
To counter this skepticism, the team is handing out a coronavirus training brochure complete with masks, hand sanitizer, and a survey that includes questions about how the disease has affected their daily lives. The answers are then entered into a database to see how NANA can better serve those in need.
A trail of enthusiastic greetings and big grins follows the group wherever they go.
“Most people are just excited to see someone hand over PPE and to see that someone is interested in their welfare,” Calvin Wyche said Wednesday while taking a break from deliveries in Brownsville. Raising awareness in these areas is the key “because many of our employees in these communities are not informed”.
A vaccine question may be added to the survey in the future. For now, however, the goal is to make sure people know how to protect themselves.
“I don’t think that’s our job (telling people to take the vaccine),” said Rick Beasley, director of the CSSF. “Our job is to provide them with the resources to make the decision that is best for their family.”
UM’s Carrasquillo, who is also the lead researcher in Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine study, believes this type of outreach plays an important role in reducing minority suspicions. By talking to community leaders, he was able to debunk myths while ensuring representation in his own vaccine trials. About 50% of those in its history are Latino; about 15% are black.
While some of the rash timeline and vaccine safety questions are valid, “we need to expose the madmen,” Carrasquillo said. “… Please do not get your health information from your brother-in-law’s friend’s website or from Facebook. This is not an authoritative medical source. “
“Sometimes leading is scary”
A recent virtual session from Keeping The Faith looked directly at the hesitation of the vaccine. The medical experts Dr. Linda Washington-Brown and Dr. Aileen Marty spoke about how COVID affects the body and the importance of vaccination. Viewers asked about Bell’s palsy, a temporary facial paralysis related to the studies, and how allergies might interact with the vaccine.
Only about a tenth of one percent of those in the COVID vaccine trials were affected by Bell’s palsy, the audience was told. Individuals with a history of anaphylaxis should consult a doctor prior to vaccination.
“You have to move all stereotypes, all errors. You have to see what happens, ”said Brown. “You don’t want to die of COVID when you have a vaccine.”
While the session didn’t completely suppress hesitation, some viewers became more confident about the vaccine. One of them was Faith Community Baptist Church pastor Richard Dunn, who said he was ready to lead by example.
“Sometimes leading is scary,” Dunn, who admitted having survived COVID, told the group. “… The bottom line is we have to have trust.”
Moments like these give Holder hope.
“If he can give an example to show how it should be, the rest of the church will continue,” she said.
Bent also said he intended to continue encouraging everyone to get vaccinated. His live stream has been viewed more than 500 times. The comment area contained several congratulatory messages.
He also plans to be briefed on his condition on a daily basis. “No tail or horns yet,” joked Bent.
Even so, he worries that he will not be able to reach the people around him. Although Bent and his wife Yashica agreed to vaccinate themselves and their four children, not even his own mother could be convinced.
“I feel like a soldier waging a very difficult war to save his people,” said Bent.
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