{"id":246377,"date":"2021-09-23T16:20:52","date_gmt":"2021-09-23T23:20:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/?p=246377"},"modified":"2021-09-23T16:23:56","modified_gmt":"2021-09-23T23:23:56","slug":"fear-hesitancy-lack-of-access-overcoming-barriers-to-vaccines-in-the-african-american-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconeer.com\/current\/fear-hesitancy-lack-of-access-overcoming-barriers-to-vaccines-in-the-african-american-community\/","title":{"rendered":"Fear, Hesitancy, Lack of Access \u2013 Overcoming Barriers to Vaccines in the African American Community"},"content":{"rendered":"

(Above, Inset, clockwise from top left): <\/em><\/strong>Dr. Oliver T. Brooks, Chief Medical Officer, Watts Healthcare Corp., Los Angeles; Michael LeNoir, Pediatrician, Oakland, Calif., and Board chair of African American Wellness Project; Rev. Steven Shepard, Pastor, St. Paul AME Church, San Bernardino; Christopher Hargrove-Thompson, student\/rapper, recent vaccine recipient; Alva Brannon, recent vaccine recipient; and Cheryl Brown, former California State Legislator and co-founder, Black Voice News. (Siliconeer\/EMS) <\/em><\/p>\n

Hesitancy about the health care system, not hesitancy about vaccines, is part of why vaccine rates remain low among African Americans, as are fears about the vaccines and misinformation about the COVID pandemic itself.<\/em><\/p>\n

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At a co-hosted briefing of Ethnic Media Services and California Black Media with the Department of Aging, Sept. 21, speakers \u2013 Dr. Oliver T. Brooks, Chief Medical Officer, Watts Healthcare Corp., Los Angeles; Alva Brannon, recent vaccine recipient; Rev. Steven Shepard, Pastor, St. Paul AME Church, San Bernardino; Christopher Hargrove-Thompson, student\/rapper, recent vaccine recipient; Cheryl Brown, former California State Legislator and co-founder, Black Voice News; and Michael LeNoir, Pediatrician, Oakland, Calif., and Board chair of African American Wellness Project \u2013 discuss approaches that are slowly increasing Black vaccination rates in California, especially among young adults, and some will share the reasons why they delayed getting vaccinated, until very recently.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe good news is that California is leading the nation, if not the world, in our response to COVID-19, but we still have to work on older adults who are still fearing the brunt of the deaths from the disease. Older adults usually live in families and communities,\u201d said Kim McCoy-Wade, Director of California Department of Aging, in her opening remarks.<\/p>\n

McCoy said while absolutely invested in all of Californians \u2013 saving lives, getting vaccinated, remaining massed, and beating this pandemic \u2013 there are gaps. About three-quarters of older adults have received their first shot, but there\u2019s more work to be done.<\/p>\n

The more striking gaps are appearing in communities of color, particularly the African American community, where less than half of the community has been fully vaccinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite the rapid spread of the delta variant, vaccination rates remain disproportionately low among African Americans nationwide. In California, the black vaccination rate is increasing but at 48 percent is still below the state average,\u201d said Sandy Close, Director, Ethnic Media Services.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfrican Americans will state they are more likely to not get vaccinated because they’re worried about missing work, they’re worried about not having sick leave, they worry about having to pay for vaccines, so that’s the general concept of access. It’s just not because they’re anti-vaccine,\u201d said Dr Brooks.<\/p>\n

\u201cBlacks have been mistreated by the medical system going back to the enslaved. The medical schools from the north actually came and invaded and took bodies out of the enslaved graveyard cemeteries and brought them up to the medical schools to use as cadavers for their anatomy classes. The turn of the 20th century, black women had forced sterilization in the south and in other areas, and then there was the U.S. Public Health Service experiment in Alabama regarding syphilis.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are other studies showing that African Americans are less likely to get cardiac studies and procedures, stents versus just medication, lower treatment for pain when they come in with sickle cell and other injuries like femur fractures.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe mistrust with the medical system is valid. It is a decision based on primarily mistrust of the vaccine and mistrust with the health care system,\u201d pointed Dr Brooks.<\/p>\n

Dr Brooks also stressed on the fact that in terms of the delta variant, when people think they don\u2019t need to get vaccinated, the studies show that people are 10 times more likely to get the disease and get death or long COVID with the delta variant.<\/p>\n

African Americans have been suspicious of vaccines for a very long time. The community started out with a community immunity compromise after years of mistrust for any vaccine. The Tuskegee Study was one of the origins of this mistrust for the African American community, said Dr. LeNoir.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was only until the vaccines were mandated by the state of California that that discussion really kind of stopped.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt makes it more difficult to persuade the younger African Americans to get a vaccine. They’re reinforced by friends and peers in communities like Clubhouse and Instagram Tick Tock and areas where we’re really not putting the messages together,\u201d said Dr. LeNoir.<\/p>\n

Cheryl Brown gave a very quick read on vaccines in the Inland Empire and the role of religious leaders.<\/p>\n

Reverend Shepherd had not been a fan of vaccinations and didn’t really want to get a vaccination at first. Then he experienced, firsthand, the symptoms of COVID. He felt tired, couldn’t keep his eyes open, lost his sense of taste. After five days and a lifesaving treatment, and his vaccination, he is now a strong proponent and an advocate for COVID-19 vaccines in his community.<\/p>\n

Alva Brannon, a recent vaccine recipient, talked about her initial mistrust of the vaccine. Brannon said she was a \u201cproduct\u201d of the Tuskegee Institute<\/a> study. She had contracted Syphilis and at age 7, she lost her vision till age 15, when she had a procedure, that brought some of her vision back.<\/p>\n

With her mistrust, Brannon kept evading the vaccine till her daughter and her church finally convinced her to take it in her own interest and the interest of her loved ones, her grandchildren.<\/p>\n

Christopher Hargrove-Thompson and his colleague spoke from the perspective of a 21-year-old student rapper. Here is a video of himself getting vaccinated, it was his grandmother and the desire to see her that finally convinced him he needed to get vaccinated.<\/p>\n

\u201cI tried to decipher the information from matrix of just procrastination like every youth. Clearly with a vaccination, it just lowers your likeliness of like spreading the disease and contracting it. It was very just nonsensical for me to just not go out and get it initially when it came. From the perspective of the younger generation, a lot of our information is filtered through social media. There’s so much misinformation \u2026 it allows for the entire process to get delayed,\u201d said Howard.<\/p>\n

Here is the Rap song video by Christopher Hargrove-Thompson. The artist provided this video as part of the briefing collateral.<\/em><\/p>\n

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