Photo by CDC on Unsplash
With news about the rollout of COVID-19 vaccines, many were hopeful about the future end of this pandemic. But not everyone has been confident about the new vaccines. African-Americans and COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy will be a key issue over the coming months.
News reports have shown many African-Americans may resist taking the COVID-19 vaccine. Some have questioned the safety of the vaccines. Others have developed a lack of trust in the American government.
Racial Inequity in Healthcare
Research shows that this mistrust goes deeper than the administration of vaccines. In recent years, there have been numerous health disparities between Black and White Americans. The COVID-19 death rate has been disproportionate amongst the black community. In the state of Michigan alone, over 40% of deaths from this disease have been among African-Americans. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) data show that more than half of cases have been in the minority communities.
The underlying issue has certainly revealed some persistent inequities in healthcare. For example, Black Americans are the most likely to have poor access to healthcare and limited economic opportunities. An early September poll from the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Undefeated found that 70% of African-Americans believe they are mistreated when they seek medical care because of their race.
History of Black Community and the Healthcare System
Distrust in the medical industry among the Black community goes back as early as the 1930s. In 1932, government-funded doctors began an experiment that involved denying treatment to syphilis patients, known as the Tuskegee Experiments.
Treatments for syphilis were mostly toxic and ineffective at the time. Over the next 40 years, the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male refused treatment to 399 poor and black sharecropper patients. Even after the emergence of penicillin as an effective syphilis treatment in 1947, black patients were still denied treatment.
When this study ended in 1972, only 74 participants had survived. The rest either died from syphilis or complications related to the disease. Wives of many participants were also infected and their children were born with congenital syphilis.
There have been many other controversial medical studies and experiments involving the Black community. As a result, many people in the Black community have felt little confidence in both the government and the medical field.
Ask Questions Before Taking Vaccine
Decades of racist treatment by doctors and lack of trust in the government have caused many Black people to be hesitant about taking the vaccine. And the medical community has a long way to go to eradicate systemic racism and restore trust among the Black community.
But despite many African-Americans lacking confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine and its safety, many are still choosing to take the vaccine. Asking further questions about the COVID-19 vaccine will help you make the right decision in consultation with your doctor and may help you feel comfortable about taking the vaccine.
“We must believe in the science, in spite of the challenge of our history and the way we’ve been treated,” said Freeman A. Hrabowski III, president of the University of Maryland at Baltimore County (UMBC), in a Time magazine piece about African-Americans and the COVID-19 vaccine. “The reason I say that is, what choice do we have? Disproportionately large numbers of Blacks are contracting the disease and are dying.”
Above all, it’s in your best interest to find out as much information as possible about matters that affect your health.
