Health: Amid history of mistreatment, doctors struggle to sell Black Americans on coronavirus vaccine

[playahaitian]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/social-issues/black-vaccine-trust/2020/12/07/9245e82e-34c2-11eb-b59c-adb7153d10c2_story.html

Amid history of mistreatment, doctors struggle to sell Black Americans on coronavirus vaccine
Stuart Anderson, left, and Lamont Mitchell of the Anacostia Coordinating Council talk with Totreana Johnson about the pending coronavirus vaccine. Volunteer Tayla Daniel is at the rear of the photo. Johnson said she is willing to take the vaccine, but many other Black Americans are not. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
By
Lola Fadulu
Dec. 7, 2020 at 5:15 p.m. EST
The Rev. Liz Walker’s job is to minister to souls at Roxbury Presbyterian Church in Boston. But lately it’s her parishioners’ physical health — and their immune systems — keeping her up at night.
Walker, a former journalist who was the first Black woman to co-anchor a newscast in Boston, was so troubled by her congregants’ suspicion of a coronavirus vaccine that she asked Anthony S. Fauci, the government’s top infectious-disease expert, to speak with them.

And he did. In an online forum for which more than 2,800 people signed up, Fauci talked about the vaccine development process and why it was essential for the Black community to get vaccinated. When Walker polled her congregation afterward, at least half were unpersuaded.

“I think it just speaks to the issue of you can’t change people’s minds with one conversation when you are trying to turn people around from decades of skepticism, from decades of distrust,” Walker said. “It is not going to happen overnight, no matter what the urgency.”
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The urgency could hardly be greater than at this moment, with the first doses of a vaccine potentially days away from initial distribution, the U.S. death toll approaching 300,000 and the pandemic spiraling out of control across the country.
Black people are nearly three times more likely than Whites to die of covid-19 because of health-care disparities, preexisting conditions and increased exposure at jobs deemed essential. Black children are losing more ground than their peers because of school shutdowns, and Black workers have been devastated by pandemic-related job losses.
Coronavirus is ravaging one of the nation’s wealthiest Black counties
Reed Tuckson is founder of the D.C.-based Black Coalition Against Covid-19, which is campaigning for people to trust a vaccine. (Courtesy Reed Tuckson)
Yet fewer than half of Black Americans say they would get a coronavirus vaccine, compared with 63 percent of Hispanic people and 61 percent of White people, according to a December report from the Pew Research Center. Many Black people say they do not trust the medical establishment because of glaring inequities in modern-day care and historical examples of mistreatment. The spread of misinformation about the vaccine development process hasn’t helped either.
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This deep-seated skepticism has led to a burst of confidence-building efforts across the country, some led by the nation’s top Black doctors and scientists and funded by the U.S. government.
So far, the response has been mixed at best, with many Black Americans — like those in Walker’s congregation — saying they want more information or cannot count on the federal government to work in their best interests.
An online town hall in October, organized by the D.C.-based Black Coalition Against Covid-19 and other groups, sparked a flurry of sign-ups to be considered for a vaccine trial through the Covid-19 Prevention Network. But volunteers trying to promote the vaccine outside a nonprofit group’s offices in Southeast Washington last week found many people unconvinced.

“There’s a group that is pretty much anti-vaccine of any kind,” said Barrett Hatches, chief executive of the Chicago Family Health Center, which serves a predominantly Black and Latino community and is promoting the vaccine while administering flu shots or coronavirus tests. “There is a group that is still in a little bit of covid denial, and then there is the group that is skeptical and has its wait-and-see perspective.”
Opinion: U.S. health care has failed Black Americans. No wonder many are hesitant about a vaccine.
Leaders of the Anacostia Coordinating Council talk with Doris Grimes, right, about the pending coronavirus vaccine, as part of a coordinated campaign to build trust in the vaccine in the Black community. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
'Trusted messengers'
Reed Tuckson, founder of the D.C.-based coalition, said some African Americans are still deeply scarred by the Tuskegee Study, in which federal health officials conducted a secret experiment on Black men to study the progression of syphilis. The men were told they were being treated for “bad blood” but never actually given medicine as they suffered blindness and other severe health problems from the disease.
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Tuckson’s group is composed of physicians, faith leaders and other advocates, and it has tentacles in virtually every health group in Washington. Its town halls featured some of the nation’s top health officials answering questions about why the vaccine process was fast tracked, whether Black people were participating in clinical trials, and whether research like the Tuskegee Study could happen in modern times.
The group is hosting a third town hall Tuesday, during which Fauci will speak.
Coronavirus vaccine countdown: What to watch for this critical week
Gary Gibbons directs the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute at the National Institutes of Health. (National Institutes of Health)
“We are taking great pains to help folks understand that what existed in the 1930s is very different today, in 2020,” said Tuckson, a doctor and health consultant who is a former D.C. health director and sits on the Howard University Board of Trustees. “That there are research scientists of color who are in positions of authority all across the research and medical enterprise.”
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The National Institutes of Health helped fund the town halls, and sent some of its top Black scientists to participate, including Gary Gibbons, head of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, who emphasized the importance of having “trusted messengers” provide “accurate, credible, authentic messages.”
“It’s in these dialogues with which we’ve gotten a sense of what is the level of knowledge, awareness, as well as misinformation and concerns,” Gibbons said. “And I think that’s helped with appreciating the level of myth-busting that in essence we need to do.”
Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration center that oversees vaccines, said he hopes the outreach will help rectify long-standing health inequities in addition to leading to more people getting the vaccine.

“I think we are in the process here of — as part of what I hope to come as a good thing out of covid-19 — this kind of national healing process of trying to address some of these things,” Marks said.
Push — and pushback
Advocates across the nation say a multiyear effort is needed.
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Ads encouraging people of color to participate in coronavirus vaccine trials are already on BET, Univision and major television networks. NIH identified 11 states that had the highest concentrations of both covid-19 cases and communities of color, and provided funding to organizations in those communities.
Officials in Jacksonville, Fla., used the NIH funding to partner with groups such as 100 Black Men of America. Health officials in Indiana joined with the Indiana Minority Health Coalition, the Jane Pauley Community Health Center and others to find places where people would feel comfortable getting vaccinated. During a webinar Monday, Baltimore City Health Commissioner Letitia Dzirasa stressed the importance of a media campaign that includes individuals who “look like they were from Baltimore,” citing focus groups from city efforts to encourage people to get the flu vaccine.

“We learned firsthand what the hesitancies were for Baltimore City residents,” Dzirasa said. “We have to address and acknowledge the root cause, and that they’re rational concerns and rational fears.”
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It is not clear yet whether all the efforts are bearing fruit. Community leaders say it’s difficult to convince people. Hatches, director of the health center in Chicago, noted that the national response to the development of a vaccine has been highly polarized, and said he was meeting with his leadership team Monday to ensure that everyone was on the same page in being able to endorse the vaccination option.
“Health-care leaders are no different than every other person who is contemplating taking the vaccine,” he said. “One would assume we’re a bit more informed. But even still, there are probably still people who haven’t made their mind up yet as to whether or not they’ll take the vaccine, or whether or not they want to wait a little bit.”
‘Lost generation’: Students, especially the most vulnerable, are sliding backward
Floyd Richards, shown here in Southeast Washington, where community leaders were touting the pending coronavirus vaccine, says he would take the vaccine when it becomes available. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)But Donnell Womack, a construction worker, says he doesn’t trust the government or the vaccine, and will get it only if required to for work. (Michael Robinson Chavez/The Washington Post)
The challenge was clear on a recent chilly day in Southeast Washington, where the Anacostia Coordinating Council set up a table at a local social service organization to speak to passersby about the vaccine. Around a dozen people stopped by, all of them masked. They grabbed snacks, took personal protective kits and listened.
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Many said they wanted to wait and see what side effects people had before committing to getting vaccinated. Others had never taken a flu vaccine, and didn’t plan to begin getting vaccinated just because of covid-19.
Donnell Womack, 43, shook his head skeptically while holding a box of donated food from the nonprofit. He said he would only get vaccinated if it were required for his work in construction.
“I don’t trust the government; I haven’t trusted the government for a long time,” Womack said. “I like Biden too, love him, but he hasn’t done anything either.”
Injustice in life, oppression in death: How racism shaped George Floyd’s life
President-elect Joe Biden has vowed to take the coronavirus vaccine on camera to boost public confidence, as have former presidents Bill Clinton, George W. Bush and Barack Obama.
But Steve White, 59, and Richard McQueen, 54, who also visited the nonprofit to pick up groceries, were unimpressed by those announcements, noting that if anything went wrong, those powerful men would have access to health care that is unimaginable in most low-income neighborhoods.
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“I have respect for Obama, and love him to death, but I mean, that’s not a big deal, he’s got the best doctors in the world,” White said.
“And a person like me, I have to wait for an appointment,” added McQueen. “And that takes like what, a month?”
Such sentiments are frustrating for Castina Jewel Watson, a 36-year-old paralegal whose mother died of covid-19 in April.
Watson, who is Black and lives in the District, plans to get vaccinated as soon as possible. But she said she hasn’t met a single person who said they would take the vaccine, including her own relatives. In trying to convince people, Watson has heard conspiracy theories she’s too afraid to repeat.
“Seeing this thing up close and what it does to people, not only people who pass away but people like me who are just left here to deal with the ashes, anything that I can do to try to eradicate it from the planet, I’m totally interested in doing,” Watson said.

 

[playahaitian]

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2030033

Trustworthiness before Trust — Covid-19 Vaccine Trials and the Black Community
List of authors.

• Rueben C. Warren, D.D.S., Dr.P.H., M.Div.,
• Lachlan Forrow, M.D.,
• David Augustin Hodge, Sr., D.Min., Ph.D.,
• and Robert D. Truog, M.D.

• Article

Metrics

• 5 References
• 1 Citing Article

The only way out of today’s misery is for people to become worthy of each other’s trust.
— Albert Schweitzer

As the race to develop a vaccine for Covid-19 has reached phase 3 clinical trials, concerns are increasing about the low rates of trial participation in important subgroups, including Black communities. Recent data show that although Black people make up 13% of the U.S. population, they account for 21% of deaths from Covid-19 but only 3% of enrollees in vaccine trials. This problem threatens both the validity and the generalizability of the trial results and is of particular concern in vaccine trials, in which differences in lifetime environmental exposures can result in differences in immunologic responses that could affect both safety and efficacy. Despite long-standing calls from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to improve the participation of underrepresented subgroups in drug trials, the problem persists.1

What are the barriers to greater participation of Black people in Covid-19 trials? Although they are multiple, a critical factor is the deep and justified lack of trust that many Black Americans have for the health care system in general and clinical research in particular. This distrust is often traced to the legacy of the infamous syphilis study at Tuskegee, in which investigators withheld treatment from hundreds of Black men in order to study the natural history of the disease. But the distrust is far more deeply rooted, in centuries of well-documented examples of racist exploitation by American physicians and researchers.2

How can these long-standing barriers to trust be overcome? The presidents of Dillard and Xavier Universities, two of the 104 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs) in the United States, recently wrote to their communities saying that they themselves were participating in one of the vaccine trials and asking their students, faculty, and staff to consider doing the same. The pushback from parents of some students came quickly. One wrote on Xavier’s Facebook page, “Our children are not lab rats for drug companies. I cannot believe that Xavier is participating in this. This is very disturbing given the history of drug trials in the black and brown communities.”3

Presidents of the four historically Black U.S. medical schools recently called for measures to increase the participation of Black patients in clinical trials, correctly arguing that without such involvement, “there will be no proof that our patients should trust the vaccine.” The presidents added that “Black doctors are the best way to build trust in our communities” and called on other HBCUs to join the effort to “foster trust in communities throughout the country.”4

Though we applaud these efforts, we fear that once again the responsibility for addressing the sequelae of centuries of racism is falling on Black people themselves. Our country has yet to comprehend adequately that overcoming racism is not primarily the responsibility of Black people; the racist ideas and practices that constitute today’s “structural racism” were created, and have been sustained, primarily by White people. It would be wrong, as well as ineffective, to ask Black communities to simply be more trusting. Clinicians, investigators, and pharmaceutical companies must provide convincing evidence — sufficient to overcome the extensive historical evidence to the contrary — that they are, in fact, trustworthy.
What can we do to earn and deserve increased trust?

First, trial sponsors and regulatory agencies can ensure that the informed-consent process is exemplary, including ensuring that all relevant aspects of the design and conduct of the clinical trials are maximally transparent.

Second, all clinical research depends on people who are willing to accept the risks posed by trial participation in order to improve health for the people who come after them. Black participants who agree to enroll in these trials have a right to expect and trust that Black communities will have fair access to vaccines once they become available. The recent guidelines from the National Academy of Sciences (NAS) are notable in this regard, recommending that priority be given to “people who are considered to be the most disadvantaged or the worst off,” as defined by measures such as the Social Vulnerability Index created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.5 Though this approach would not directly target people in specific racial or ethnic groups, it is functionally antiracist in that it prioritizes people who have suffered from the social determinants of poor health that are unfortunately prevalent in many Black communities.

Third, politicization of the vaccine trials has engendered widespread mistrust among the general public. The joint pledge by nine pharmaceutical companies that they will “stand with science” and not submit a vaccine for approval until it has been thoroughly vetted for safety and efficacy is welcome, but earning trust will require credible evidence that this pledge is being honored. Just as important, however, is that the evidence must not only be convincing to the general public, but — in the words of the NAS guidelines — also be perceived as convincing “by audiences who are socioeconomically, culturally, and educationally diverse, and who have distinct historical experiences with the health system.”5

Fourth, to earn and deserve trust from prospective trial participants, we must ensure that they will receive appropriate medical care if they are injured as a result of receiving an experimental vaccine. In addition to often lacking access to health care, Black people are also disproportionately likely to be uninsured, and pharmaceutical sponsors in the United States are not required to provide compensation to people who experience research-related injuries. Even when participants have insurance, there is no guarantee that they will be covered for such injuries. In many cases, injured participants will be forced to rely on the tort system for compensation — a situation that is morally indefensible, especially for participants who lack the means to engage in this time-consuming and expensive process. One way to demonstrate trustworthiness would be for the pharmaceutical companies sponsoring these trials to establish a fund to guarantee health care coverage and death benefits to patients and families as compensation for serious vaccine injuries or possible deaths.

When Covid-19 vaccines are eventually approved by the FDA, their success in Black and other communities will depend on whether members of these communities not only trust that they are safe and effective, but also believe that the organizations offering them are trustworthy. Trust could be earned more quickly by a collaboratively designed Operation Build Trustworthiness that matches the seriousness and scope of Operation Warp Speed. To be effective, this effort would need to be firmly grounded in grassroots involvement of individuals and organizations with solid, well-earned reputations for trustworthiness in Black and other minority communities, including respected elected representatives, trusted local and national faith leaders, community advocates, and others. Active, ongoing, and fully bidirectional collaboration, learning, and communication will be essential. Time is running short, and trustworthiness, not trust, must be our first and most urgent priority.

 

[playahaitian]

Black Physician Signs Up For Moderna Vaccine Trial After Losing Loved Ones To COVID-19

Dr. Chris Pernell is a physician in Newark, New Jersey, who lost her father and cousin to COVID-19.

www.wbur.org

Black Physician Signs Up For Moderna Vaccine Trial After Losing Loved Ones To COVID-1910:59

Play
December 10, 2020

• Tonya Mosley
• Allison Hagan

Dr. Chris Pernell. (Courtesy)
The COVID-19 death rate for Black people in the U.S. is nearly triple that of white Americans, with one in 1,000 Black Americans dying from the disease.
An effective vaccine is on the horizon, but there’s ongoing concern over whether people will trust the vaccine. Black people make up 13% of the U.S. population but only account for 5% of the vaccine trial participants.
Dr. Chris Pernell considered all of this when the New Jersey public health physician signed up for the Moderna vaccine trial after her father, Timothy Pernell Sr., died at 78 from COVID-19 in April. Pernell Sr. worked as a research scientist at Bell Labs for more than 30 years.
“It's been a surreal time. I think those are the best words that I can use to describe it,” she says. “We lost my dad at a time when the epicenter of the pandemic had firmly landed on Newark, New Jersey.”
Dr. Chris Pernell's dad seated in between her sister-in-law, Pasha Pernell on the left, and Pernell on the right after a service at the family church. (Courtesy)
Pernell Sr. fought for his life in the hospital during the fall and winter of 2019. His family wasn’t sure he would survive, but the “bionic man” was discharged on New Year's Day in 2020 and started subacute rehab for physical reconditioning, his daughter says.
Her father wanted to regain strength to “live out the home stretch” of his life surrounded by his grandkids and family, Pernell says. But then Pernell Sr. suddenly fell ill with high fevers and unstable vitals.
“He had about three of those episodes before his care team said, ‘Look, we're going to have to test him for coronavirus. It's rampant throughout the hospital.’ ” she says. “And unfortunately, he got it.”
Pernell’s cousin also died of probable COVID-19 complications. The “vivacious, full of life” man in his late 50s had a stroke and blood clots in his lungs, she says.
Dr. Chris Parnell's family pictured at her brother, Bishop Pernell's wedding. From left to right, Chris Parnell; her father, Timothy Pernell Sr.; her mother, Merlene G. Pernell; her sister-in-law, Pasha Pernell; Bishop Pernell, her sister Alison D. Pernell; and her oldest sister, Kim Maria Walker, who is considered a COVID-19 long-hauler. (Courtesy)
And her sister, a breast cancer survivor, has been fighting the virus as a long hauler after likely getting exposed at work. Her sister stopped using supplemental oxygen a few weeks ago but has yet to return to work, Pernell says.
Her role as a doctor, daughter and Black woman informed Pernell’s decision to volunteer for Moderna’s vaccine trial.
Get a rundown on what's happening locally with coronavirus: testing, treatments, economic impacts and Boston's road to recovery. Sign up now.
“COVID had taken so much from me, I had to take something from it,” she says. “And I needed a way to live forward my father's legacy.”
Statistics from vaccine trials show Black people are vastly underrepresented. As a physician who focuses on the health inequalities Black and Brown people face particularly in clinical research, she says she understood the importance of representation in the coronavirus vaccine trials.
The conversation around Black Americans and the vaccine needs to start with the community’s historical distrust of medicine and science that stems from instances like the decades-long Tuskegee Study, she says.
“The historical legacy of medical experimentation and exploitation still weighs collectively on the psyche of Black folks in Black communities, she says. “And academic medicine and health care more generally has not done enough to demonstrate trustworthiness.”
Black people also need to feel seen to address ongoing health care disparities such as a lack of diversity in the medical field, she says. A study from the Association of American Medical Colleges found 5% of doctors in the country identified as Black, compared to 56% who were white.
Many people express concerns around the timeline of the coronavirus vaccine development. To build trust, the medical community needs to educate people on why this process was expedited, Pernell says.
For drug companies, the federal government’s $9 billion investment in the process removed the economic disincentives of exploring manufacturing and testing simultaneously, which usually doesn’t happen in clinical research, she says.
Explaining safety data in plain language is important, she says. The coronavirus vaccine is reactogenic, which means some people who have taken it felt soreness or fatigue but were not infected. People who get vaccinated are exposed to the genetic code of the virus that instructs the body to build an immune response, she says, not a dead or activated virus.
“For some people, that level of reassurance is going to help them to say in this day, ‘Yes, I want to get vaccinated,’ ” she says. “And for other people, we're going to have to put the work in. And that's going to be across days, weeks, months and even years.”
Pernell can’t say for sure whether she received the vaccine or a placebo in the double-blind Moderna trial — but she stands by her decision to participate.
She felt some pain after receiving the first injection in late August, but it didn’t disrupt her daily activities. Then after receiving the second injection 28 days later, she experienced severe fatigue and headaches in addition to soreness in her arm. She started improving within 24 hours and felt back to normal two days after receiving the second injection, she says.
With the vaccine rollout approaching, Pernell asks people still considering or rejecting vaccination to start a conversation with someone trustworthy, whether it’s with the National Medical Association, a professional group of Black physicians, or a doctor in their community. She says she’s hopeful people will make informed choices because the U.S. needs the vaccine to stop the pandemic.
For folks working in health care and academic medicine, Pernell says they need to listen to people’s fears and speak up.
“We can't begin to demonize or to create stigma around that skepticism, especially in Black and Brown communities,” she says, “because it will backfire on us.”

 

[Mo-Better]

Its not like your going to be the first getting the vaccine. So I wouldn't worry too much. Any flare ups we'll know about them.

Now if Trump were in control I'd be very concerned. In fact I would not take the vaccine.

I would take the vaccine because catching Covid is almost certain death. Better to die having tried, than to die cause you were scared.

 

[Mrfreddygoodbud]

Its not like your going to be the first getting the vaccine. So I wouldn't worry too much. Any flare ups we'll know about them.

Now if Trump were in control I'd be very concerned. In fact I would not take the vaccine.

I would take the vaccine because catching Covid is almost certain death. Better to die having tried, than to die cause you were scared.

bruh if you think you getting the same shit......

the wealthy and super elite are getting or already got..

good luck with THAT notion!

 

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[Mo-Better]

bruh if you think you getting the same shit......

the wealthy and super elite are getting or already got..

good luck with THAT notion!

Go back and reread what I typed Chuckles. I said nothing about the shit you're typing about. So catch the virus you probably die. Take the vaccine you possibly die. There's one constant here...

 

[playahaitian]

bruh if you think you getting the same shit......

the wealthy and super elite are getting or already got..

good luck with THAT notion!

but fam.. OK if we think like that.

Let's say you right.

then you would have to maintain that logic for EVERYTHING.

and I mean everything.

food, housing, medicine... EVERYTHING

so we just gonna do nothing?

again I HEAR you and you are NOT wrong is in your hesitance and skepticism

but if you gonna pick and choose like that with no consistency (not YOU personally bro)

they aint making sense.

Hold the SAME level of scrutiny for EVERYTHING that can effect your livelihood then.

My issue is MOST, hell MANY,

don't

but pick some random conspiracy theory and do a one page google search some YouTube videos and thin they a EXPERT

they are too lazy to do any REAL research and investigation

but find the time to write bullsh*t responses on social media for weeks.

 

[roots69]

bruh if you think you getting the same shit......

the wealthy and super elite are getting or already got..

good luck with THAT notion!

Damn!! Bruh, you know their are alot of people that think they get the same treatment as the 1% or they are getting the same education as bill gates, w buffet and the rest of these rich people kids are getting!! Its amazing how people think everything is fair is this world.. I dont get it, if a person steps back and start looking around they will notice the difference between the 1% and the 99%!! Its not that hard to witness!!

 

[guyver]

This article is from the Washington Post smh. To be fair, I haven't read the article but I dont like the headline.the issue with this is giving the impression that black people are the only people concerned with the vaccine. I just get tired of black people being singled out for every little thing. While it true that what I've heard around blacks being treated as lab rats or mistreated in general by doctors does influence my thoughts around health professionals, alot of my feelings come from my own experiences,recent stories and stories from friends/family members. However, those thoughts aren't necessarily my concern around the vaccine.

Clearly I can't speak for all black people but the main problem isn't a fear of doctors or medicine. It's the fact that unlike a lot of treatments this vaccine is seemingly being rushed to market. We all know that this situation is slightly different from the norm but if most people believe it takes years for treatments to be approved and now something is approved over night people aren't likely to trust it. The other issue is people don't believe they care about saving lives as much as saving the economy. Add to the fact that they can't keep their story straight on anything related to covid like how to best protect yourself and its understandable why anyone would question the safety of the vaccine.

If they want to attempt to gain people's trust. Stop having photo ops of people getting the vaccine and start explaining the process of drug approval. The problem with that is they will need to explain to someone why their mother who is dying from cancer has to wait 6 years for a drug to be approved, yet this drug was approved in months. This will challenge the system and force them to change a process they aren't willing to update.

 

[playahaitian]

This article is from the Washington Post smh. To be fair, I haven't read the article but I dont like the headline.the issue with this is giving the impression that black people are the only people concerned with the vaccine. I just get tired of black people being singled out for every little thing. While it true that what I've heard around blacks being treated as lab rats or mistreated in general by doctors does influence my thoughts around health professionals, alot of my feelings come from my own experiences,recent stories and stories from friends/family members. However, those thoughts aren't necessarily my concern around the vaccine.

Clearly I can't speak for all black people but the main problem isn't a fear of doctors or medicine. It's the fact that unlike a lot of treatments this vaccine is seemingly being rushed to market. We all know that this situation is slightly different from the norm but if most people believe it takes years for treatments to be approved and now something is approved over night people aren't likely to trust it. The other issue is people don't believe they care about saving lives as much as saving the economy. Add to the fact that they can't keep their story straight on anything related to covid like how to best protect yourself and its understandable why anyone would question the safety of the vaccine.

If they want to attempt to gain people's trust. Stop having photo ops of people getting the vaccine and start explaining the process of drug approval. The problem with that is they will need to explain to someone why their mother who is dying from cancer has to wait 6 years for a drug to be approved, yet this drug was approved in months. This will challenge the system and force them to change a process they aren't willing to update.

I hear you but read the article fam.

But this IS an issue

a SERIOUS one

and is directed SPECIFICALLY at US

Our relationship with medicine is fraught and is JUSTIFIABLY SO.

And as a parent of a young child who gonna live her life being monitored its something I am researching closely and involved with daily.

We do have to find some type of meeting point to resolve this long standing issues.

Cause bad enough economically we at the bottom but our existing medical conditions make us even MORE of a target

and our bad relationship with medical services some legit some just made up stuff

is STILL killing us.

 

[KRAYZIE]

I really don't understand this shit. Every single person speaking out about vaccines have been vaccinated ! Everyone that's gone to school or traveled aboard has been vaccinated. This anti-vaccine should become so prevalent and mama got a scar on her right arm from being vaccinated against polio and smallpox and all this extra shit.

 

[Mrfreddygoodbud]

but fam.. OK if we think like that.

Let's say you right.

then you would have to maintain that logic for EVERYTHING.

and I mean everything.

food, housing, medicine... EVERYTHING

so we just gonna do nothing?

again I HEAR you and you are NOT wrong is in your hesitance and skepticism

but if you gonna pick and choose like that with no consistency (not YOU personally bro)

they aint making sense.

Hold the SAME level of scrutiny for EVERYTHING that can effect your livelihood then.

My issue is MOST, hell MANY,

don't

but pick some random conspiracy theory and do a one page google search some YouTube videos and thin they a EXPERT

they are too lazy to do any REAL research and investigation

but find the time to write bullsh*t responses on social media for weeks.

I aint takin that shit bruh!

they better put in some real research.....

too many folks left with fucked up side effects,

lopsided faces and shit.....

 

[playahaitian]

I aint takin that shit bruh!

they better put in some real research.....

too many folks left with fucked up side effects,

lopsided faces and shit.....

hold on bruh

did I stutter and make yo think I'm gonna FIRST IN LINE?!?!

however the way I am haring things from my hospital folks I may not have a choice since the baby is in the high risk category

I will keep you posted.

 

[zod16]

I really don't understand this shit. Every single person speaking out about vaccines have been vaccinated ! Everyone that's gone to school or traveled aboard has been vaccinated. This anti-vaccine should become so prevalent and mama got a scar on her right arm from being vaccinated against polio and smallpox and all this extra shit.

Don't inject logic into this shit. Look at the cacs in the White House; Fighting each other behind the scenes to get access to the vaccine but still downplaying the severity of it in public.

 

[playahaitian]

Q&A: Why this Black doctor volunteered for coronavirus vaccine trial

When it comes to urging her Black patients to volunteer for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials, AMA member Louito Edje, MD, is putting her money where her mouth is.

www.ama-assn.org

Q&A: Why this Black doctor volunteered for coronavirus vaccine trial
OCT 13, 2020
Sara Berg
Senior News Writer

There is a feverish race to develop a COVID-19 vaccine. However, even with clinical trials moving forward, too few of the people signing up to take part in them are Black. That is discouraging yet unsurprising, given the long-running difficulty that clinical trialists have encountered in recruiting Black research subjects given high levels of historical mistrust.

Featured updates: COVID-19
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Against that backdrop, AMA member Louito Edje, MD, jumped at the opportunity to help test one of the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidates that has made it to phase 3 trials. Dr. Edje, who is Black, is a family physician and associate dean of graduate medical education at the University of Cincinnati Medical Center.
She also is a member of the AMA Ambassador Program, which equips individuals with the skills and knowledge to confidently speak to the AMA's initiatives and the value of membership. The program also increases overall awareness about what the AMA does for physicians and their patients.
During a recent interview, Dr. Edje discussed her decision and how she hopes it will benefit patients. Patients and physicians can learn more about volunteering for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials at the COVID-19 Prevention Network, a project of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
AMA: What inspired you to participate in this COVID-19 vaccine trial?
Dr. Edje: There were three different motivators for my enrollment. No. 1, 30% of my job is direct patient care. We're a high-risk demographic as Black women, as Black patients. In particular, I wanted to make sure that I could learn as much as I could about the trial itself and then talk to my patients about getting involved. It's like a put-your-money-where-your-mouth-is sort of thing.
The Cincinnati Medical Association—it represents Black physicians in Cincinnati—invited the primary investigator to come to our meeting and he walked us through all the details. There are going to be seven visits—the first one is about three hours—and enrollees would be using a symptom diary via phone app after each vaccine visit. He went through the difference between the various vaccine trials, focusing on mechanisms of action. At that point, I felt equipped to go ahead and actually speak to patients about enrolling.
No. 2, for the other 70% of my job, I have responsibility for about 700 or so residents and fellows at the University of Cincinnati as associate dean of graduate medical education. We have about a hundred programs. I am keenly interested in learner safety, their PPE, their social distancing, making sure that they've got sanitizer available to keep them safe as they learn. My work ensuring residents are safe in the long run also inspired me to participate in the vaccine trial.
No. 3, the thing that pushed me right into the study was the death of my stepmother who lived in Swaziland. She was young and healthy yet passed away from COVID a couple months ago. It hit me much harder than I had expected. I wrote a little poem about the effect of this titled, “A tsunami born of a teardrop.”
I want to be part of a solution to the worst pandemic we have seen in my lifetime. The trial is being conducted right here at Cincinnati. Ours is one of 90 centers globally involved with this mRNA 1273 trial. For me, that was a perfect opportunity to be an example.

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AMA: Those are great reasons to be involved in a COVID-19 vaccine trial. Why did you decide to tell people you volunteered in the clinical trial?
Dr. Edje: If you're going to lead by example, you might as well do it in the light instead of darkness. If there's a single other person who decides to be in the trial because I was in the trial and, ultimately, if this vaccine is the one that works, then that’s great.
I've had a lot of questions posed to me as well: “You're a Black woman, aren't you reluctant to be in trials with the history that we've had with Tuskegee?” For me, it got even more complex when it started to be politicized and when people started to become more suspicious about the motivations for increasing enrollment of Black participants. Blacks are disproportionately affected by this pandemic but there is still a reticence to be “encouraged” to be involved.

What is the right speed of developing a vaccine? It's the speed of science. So, if it is fully developed before the election at the speed of science, great. If happens after the election at the speed of science, great. Both of those two are right, as long as it's the speed of science. That is the right speed.

AMA: Which COVID-19 vaccine trial are you taking part in, and how does the process work?
Dr. Edje: I’m in the Moderna trial, which uses an mRNA-1273. Basically, the trial is meant to get my immune system prepared to act on the spike proteins on the surface of the virus. In case I get exposed to the virus, my system should be able to recognize it and respond. It’s different than injecting attenuated virus—that is not happening in this trial.
Right now, this is meant to be 25 months. I just started a couple of weeks ago. I had my first shot and have had no problems. I've been randomized, so I don't know whether I received the placebo or I'm getting this study vaccine. But either way, I'll be blinded all the way until the end. I take my temperature for the seven days after the shot and fill the symptom diary on my phone which syncs to the trial database.
Participants only receive two shots. I received one the first day, which was a couple of Saturdays ago. The entire trial team came in on a Saturday so they could enroll me because they are committed to a diverse cohort. They realize the importance of having a doctor who's a Black woman. I really appreciated that because it'll help to get the word out.
The second shot is in mid-October. All the subsequent visits are follow-up visits—symptom evaluations and physical exams.

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AMA: Now that you're getting this firsthand experience with a COVID-19 vaccine trial, do you think that will help when you're talking to patients, in terms of addressing fears or misperceptions they might have about these clinical trials?
Dr. Edje: Absolutely! I have patients who trust me as a family doctor. I’m in a unique position to field questions generated around trust on a regular basis. “Would you go to that specialist? Would you have that procedure yourself?” Patients trust family docs in a way that's very special, largely because of the relationships that we've built with them over time.
A fundamental pillar in family medicine is continuity of care, often over a lifetime. We care for entire families and their entire health care experience. We meet them when they are at their weakest point and while they're in their fullest wellness—the full gamut. We build that trust over time and over different experiences. We are privileged as family physicians to have a significant impact on the communities that we live in and that we work in.
AMA: After the vaccine trial is complete, what is your hope for future outcomes?
Dr. Edje: After the trial, I hope the vaccine provides the immunity that we expect, which is prolonged immunity. The next challenge will be to make sure that we have an adequate supply of vaccine. Then, we will need to tackle the barrier of misinformation as we educate patients on its safety and efficacy.

 

[playahaitian]

Black doctors endorse taking 'safe and effective' Covid-19 vaccine
"Respect for our Black bodies and our Black lives must be a core value for those who are working to find the vaccine," a group of Black doctors wrote in an open letter.
A volunteer in Pfizer's clinical trial receives an injection at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center.Cincinnati Children's


Nov. 23, 2020, 12:40 PM EST
By Randi Richardson
Eight prominent Black doctors wrote a "love letter to Black America" to encourage people to get the Covid-19 vaccine once it becomes available.
A significant proportion of Black Americans said in an Axios/Ipsos poll in August that they were unlikely to get the first-generation coronavirus vaccine once it becomes available. Compared to slightly more than half of white and Latino respondents who said they'd get the vaccine, 72 percent of Black respondents said they wouldn't immediately get a vaccination for Covid-19.

In addition to some general skepticism about the vaccine, there is historical skepticism among the Black community about medical experimentation and vaccines. Many point to the experiences of Henrietta Lacks, whose cells were taken by doctors at Johns Hopkins University without her knowledge for experimentation as she died of cancer, and of the men subjected to the torturous Tuskegee Syphilis Study.
The doctors said their health care colleagues are aware of the collective distrust. To get the Black community to take the vaccine, "they must do more to earn your trust — now and in the future," they said.
"We ask you to join us in participating in clinical trials and taking a vaccine once it's proven safe and effective," they said. "We know that our collective role in helping to create a vaccine that works for Black people — and that we trust — has an impact on our very survival."
They added, "Respect for our Black bodies and our Black lives must be a core value for those who are working to find the vaccine for this virus that has already taken so many of our loved ones."
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The doctors, who are in "key decision-making roles from the lab to the clinic to the virtual boardroom" are: Leon McDougle, president of the National Medical Association; David Carlisle, president of the Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science; Martha A. Dawson, a doctor of nursing practice who is president of the National Black Nurses Association; Wayne A.I. Frederick, president of Howard University; James Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College; Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of Morehouse School of Medicine; Randall Morgan, president of The Cobb Institute; and Reed Tuckson, a founding member of the Black Coalition Against Covid.
The group asked the Black community to keep them accountable for protecting their health. They also shared their role within a medical and racial justice framework and encouraged people to continue practicing safety precautions, even though weathering several months of the pandemic is burdensome.
"We affirm that Black Lives Matter. We love you. And as Black health professionals, we have a higher calling to stand for racial justice and to fight for health equity," the group said. "We plead with you to wear your masks, continue social distancing, hand washing, and avoiding indoor events until vaccines are widely available."

 

[playahaitian]

Experts warn of low Covid vaccine trust among Black Americans
Distrust over the Covid-19 vaccine runs high among Black Americans, but Black doctors are waging a battle to get the community informed — and vaccinated.

Jordan Mitchell / for NBC News


Dec. 11, 2020, 5:26 AM EST / Updated Dec. 11, 2020, 8:58 AM EST
By P.R. Lockhart
The patients who stream into her clinic in a low-income and predominantly Black section of Chicago's South Side have been terrified by the coronavirus pandemic, said Dr. Brittani James, stressed out by its harmful effects on the community and frustrated by mixed messages from government officials.
But now, just as possible solution to the virus's spread is on the horizon, she is particularly worried about what she is hearing from her patients. Many of them fear that the vaccines aimed at stopping the spread of Covid-19 will be harmful to Black Americans.

Concerns about vaccines have left some Black people entirely unwilling to take a vaccine, while others have said that they want to wait and see how the first wave of vaccine distribution is handled.
When those concerns come up, “I look my patients in the eye and I say that I understand, I’ve read the studies myself, and my job is to protect you and I will not do you wrong,” said James, a family physician who is also an assistant professor at the University of Illinois College of Medicine. “I don’t respond with writing them off as irrational and ignorant.”
As a result of her conversations with patients and her own medical experience, “I’m already seeing the writing on the wall that we are not prepared to roll this vaccine out to vulnerable communities,” said James, who co-founded the Institute for Antiracism in Medicine earlier this year. “I feel like I’m screaming into a void in trying to get people to understand that I can see that this will fail if we continue to do what we normally do with distribution.”
Over the past several months, as infections, hospitalizations and deaths from Covid-19 continue to rise across the country, it is having the harshest effects on Black communities like the one James serves. By almost every metric, be it increased unemployment, diminished academic performance or exposure to pre-existing conditions that put a person at a greater risk of getting sick, the virus and its economic fallout have often affected Black Americans more severely than other groups.
“It’s been very overwhelming,” James said.
The pandemic’s disparate impact has fueled concerns that Black communities — who along with Latinos and Native Americans are among the groups most affected by Covid-19 — are being left behind as America responds to the virus. And with several vaccines likely on the path to federal approval in the near future, ensuring that Black communities and other marginalized groups have access to treatment is something that medical professionals say is crucial to defeating the pandemic.
But right now, the one thing that may be more important than getting vaccines in the hands of Black Americans is increasing their trust in the process that created it, and in a medical system that has mistreated them in both the past and the present.
Generations of experimentation on Black Americans and dismissal at the hands of medical professionals have left many skeptical of the medical field and wary of taking a vaccine, something that just half of Black poll respondents have said they are willing to do.
It’s all part of a cycle of a distrust in medicine that some Black medical providers say is both completely warranted and deeply concerning.
“It is not paranoia, it is not that Black people don’t ‘get it’ or are simply uneducated and unintelligent about their health,” James says. “The reality is that their worries have been earned and will not be corrected until medicine and public health and the government reckon with the past and what has been done to Black and brown people.”
Now, as the country deals with another deadly wave of the coronavirus, Black doctors and medical providers are taking key roles in doing something they say should have been done decades ago: working to build trust in medicine in Black communities and acknowledge past harms. But, increasing confidence in vaccines is just one part of a process they say must continue for years.
Black medical providers aren’t shocked
Polling of Black Americans reveals that months into the pandemic, there continues to be a deep distrust of potential vaccine efforts.
A September survey of Black and Latino respondents published by the COVID Collaborative, the NAACP and UnidosUS found that while 55 percent of Black respondents knew someone who had been diagnosed with Covid-19, just 14 percent said that they believed that a future vaccine would be safe, and only 18 percent believed that the vaccine would be effective.
A December poll from the Pew Research Center found that while 71 percent of Black respondents knew someone who had been hospitalized or died from Covid-19, fewer than half of Black Americans polled would get the vaccine.


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For Black medical providers, these numbers are stark, but not surprising.
“We saw early on that vaccine acceptance and willingness to enroll in vaccine clinical trials was going to be a major challenge,” said Dr. Reed Tuckson, a former public health commissioner in Washington, D.C., and the leader of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19, a D.C.-based effort to spread information about the virus and potential vaccines to Black Americans.
Over the past several months, the coalition has worked with a number of Washington community organizations, historically Black colleges and universities, and community leaders to share information both locally and nationally about Covid-19 prevention, and drafted a public “Love Letter to Black America” that calls for people to be open to vaccines when they are available.
Much of the organization’s national work has revolved around combating misinformation about potential vaccines, and the coalition has used radio campaigns to further its reach. The coalition has also worked to make experts available to the general public through remote national town halls and forums, including a recent event that allowed people to hear directly from Dr. Anthony Fauci, the nation’s top infectious disease expert and the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at the National Institutes of Health.
Tuckson said that the events have largely been a success, adding that the coalition’s first two town hall events reached some 240,000 people. Among Black Americans, “there is a hunger and willingness for information and to engage in these issues when they are presented with the community’s issues in mind,” he said.
Other members of the coalition include the presidents of the National Medical Association, and the National Black Nurses Association, and the leadership of the nation’s four historically-Black medical schools: the Morehouse School of Medicine in Atlanta, the Howard University College of Medicine in Washington, D.C., the Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee, and the Charles Drew University of Medicine and Science in Los Angeles.
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The individual groups within the coalition have also worked to spread information about the vaccine to the communities they serve, and the four medical schools have been involved in the clinical trials process. But these efforts have at times drawn a backlash from alumni and other Black Americans worried that the process would somehow be unsafe.
The doctors argue that their actions will ultimately help Black communities. “We’ve been developing linguistically and culturally appropriate materials to help people to get access to testing and educational material about Covid-19,” Dr. Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine, recently told the Undefeated.
Martha Dawson, president of the National Black Nurses Association, said that efforts to increase openness to the vaccine in Black communities must stem from a direct acknowledgement of the ways that Black people have faced discrimination in the medical field, and from an honest and open dialogue that does not dismiss concerns or fears about a vaccine, but instead addresses them clearly and with information.
“Historically, there is a saying that when white people catch a cold, African Americans catch pneumonia,” Dawson said. She explains that any effort to address the pandemic in Black communities must also address what are known as the “social determinants of health” the external factors -- living conditions and economic outcomes that directly affect a person’s health and have played a role in wide health disparities between Black people and white people well before the pandemic began.
“This pandemic should serve as a wake-up call for how fragile our health care system is and that there is room for improvement,” she adds.
The scars of Tuskegee
That improvement isn’t just limited to closing the disparities exacerbated by the coronavirus, experts say. Rather, they also want there to be increased acknowledgement and awareness of a history that is widely known in Black communities and not always shared elsewhere: the history of how racism in medicine has left profound cultural and social scars on Black people and their communities.
This history begins with enslaved men and women being subjected to surgeries without anesthesia in the name of medical advancement. Men like James Marion Sims, who has been celebrated as the “Father of Modern Gynecology,” operated on Black women unable to oppose the treatment. Other stories include cases like that of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman who went to a segregated Johns Hopkins Hospital for cancer treatment in 1951 only to have her cells taken and used in medical research without her consent for decades after her death.
Perhaps the largest shadow has been cast by the U.S. Public Health Service Syphilis Study at Tuskegee, which began in the 1930s and continued until its public revelation in 1972. The study, which was conducted in Alabama with approval of the U.S. government, tracked 600 Black men -- 399 living with syphilis and 201 without the disease — but did not offer any treatment, instead observing the men for decades as they struggled with health complications related to the disease, infected others, and died. The study did irreparable damage to the men and their loved ones, and according to research published in 2016, scarred a generation, with life expectancy among Black men over 45 falling in the years immediately following the revelation of the experiment.
The scars of Tuskegee and other historical traumas continue to resonate today, several Black medical providers said, and help explain part of the distrust Black communities have toward the medical field. But another factor that is also significant is how people have been treated in the present, an issue that has been exacerbated by the ongoing pandemic.
“Black people can’t even get adequate health care and access to insurance,” Dawson said, noting that even when Black patients can access doctors, they report having negative interactions with them and are not always taken seriously when raising concerns about their health.
“When there isn’t a pandemic, if you don’t allow me to fully participate in the health care system, then why in a pandemic are you expecting me to participate in the health care system?” she added. “We can’t keep having it both ways.”
The medical providers all acknowledged that the mistrust and misinformation that they are seeing are issues that can’t be resolved overnight and won’t be fixed in the weeks before vaccines begin to be made available to front-line public health workers, a key group exposed to the virus. But they also acknowledge that the costs of doing nothing are significant and could lead to the further devastation of Black communities.
Dr. Leon McDougle, a Black physician in Columbus, Ohio, and the current president of the National Medical Association, notes that one piece of misinformation he wants to correct is that Covid-19 is only threatening to older patients. During a recent interview, he recalled the story of a 35-year-old patient, a former Division I football player, who needed weeks of treatment for Covid-19 followed by months of dialysis for kidney failure.
“Prior to his illness, he looked like the Incredible Hulk,” McDougle said. He points to the case as an example of the ways that Covid-19 symptoms can linger for months after the treatment. McDougle, who leads a task force of Black physicians that plans to independently vet potential vaccines, also cites the case as an example of why vaccination will be important, noting that avoiding the vaccine could make racial health disparities worse.
Because of this, McDougle said, it is crucial for him to “lead by example,” so he said he has signed up to participate in clinical trials for a vaccine and that he would take a vaccination when it is available. He said he hopes that this pledge, coupled with similar pledges made by other Black doctors, nurses, researchers and pharmacists, can help ease suspicion of Covid-19 vaccines.
Tuckson of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19 is more direct.
“The African American community needs to understand that 2020 is not 1930 or 1940,” he said. “There were no African American physicians or scientists or health policy leaders in the past, today is a different situation,” he added, noting that a series of ethical guidelines in medicine known as the Belmont Report stem directly from the Tuskegee experiment. He also said that numerous Black scientists “will have direct involvement in the creation of a vaccine,” including Black women like Dr. Kizzmekia Corbett, a lead coronavirus vaccine researcher at the NIH.
For James, the Chicago doctor, the only way that vaccine conversations will change in Black communities is if Black people not only play a role in creating a vaccine, but they are also given lead roles on sharing vaccine information with the public.
“We need to listen to Black and brown leadership, places like Black churches, nonprofits that understand the communities,” she said. “We need to empower them with resources to execute and follow their lead.”

'We are not prepared': Vaccine buy-in among Black Americans won't come easy, experts warn

Distrust over the Covid-19 vaccine runs high among Black Americans, but Black doctors are waging a battle to get the community informed — and vaccinated.

www.nbcnews.com

 

[keith6]

Henrietta lacks... nah we will wait and see.

 

[code_pirahna]

Folks actually think they are going to have a choice in taking this vaccine.....

they re just being nice right now.

 

[durham]

I will take it, fuck what y'all are talking about.

 

[woodchuck]

To my brethren talking about people taking vaccines in the past, how long did it take those vaccines to be developed?

 

[playahaitian]

​

 

[playahaitian]

To my brethren talking about people taking vaccines in the past, how long did it take those vaccines to be developed?

typically?

not a few months for SURE!

But you gotta take into account this is a worldwide pandemic of historic proportions effecting every nation in the world.

Imagine the combined smartest scientific minds getting together for the first few times in history

in a age were the earth is SMALLER and completely connected

Technology is at its near peak

and ALL those scientists not only have a PERSONAL interest (some could say self preservation)

they have a financial and historical interest.

and some whether you want to beleive it or not?

Really want to save humanity

So this is ALL completely unprecedented

we REALLY can't compare it to the past

THAT being said?

It does NOT mean there should NOT be caution

this is something NEVER done before if goes against decades of proven scientific procedure.

So we SHOULD be weary as f*ck

but Uncle chuck we old enough to KNOW

that if someone told us that every man woman and child regardless of money or race or creed would be able to own basically Mr. Spock tricorder in their pocket?

super computers the size of a 50 cent piece, Cars that drive themselves, wireless headphones, 3D printers...

we would have thought they were INSANE

can you REALLY be SHOCKED they could create a relatively safe vaccine in a year?

the REAL thing I take from this Uncle Chuck?

Many of the world's problems could be RECTIFIED under smart leadership and strong worldwide community effort.

If the powers that be (and the PEOPLE) REALLY WANTED THEM TO BE SOLVED.

 

[playahaitian]

Coronavirus News: New York City critical care nurse given first COVID vaccine in the US

The director of critical care at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) in Queens has become the first person in the United States to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in a non-trial setting.

abc7ny.com

 

[King Mob]

I was of a mind to participate in clinical trials until they said volunteer...

 

[playahaitian]

I was of a mind to participate in clinical trials until they said volunteer...

you know WE as a people do NOT participate in medical trials much....

and ESPECIALLY concerning ailments, diseases etc that SPECIALLY target US

and that is a REAL issue in the medical community

cause WE NEED that.

surprisingly the is MONEY is there (most times) and the RESOURCES

but we won't SUPPORT or PARTICIPATE

and honestly I UNDERSTAND

but I had to really get INTO that community to hear the OTHER side and understand why LACK of participation really hurts us too.

 

[johnnybills]

Swine flu vax of 1976

 

[KingTaharqa]

​

Coronavirus News: New York City critical care nurse given first COVID vaccine in the US

The director of critical care at Long Island Jewish Medical Center (LIJ) in Queens has become the first person in the United States to receive the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine in a non-trial setting.

abc7ny.com

 

[roots69]

My biggest problem and issue with this vaccine is, how were they so fast to come up with a vaccine!! Someone correct me, I thought they took 5 - 10yrs to come up with a vaccine that safe to use on the masses!! They havent come up with anything for the common cold and they have a vaccine for something thats been out for a year or so??

 

[guyver]

I hear you but read the article fam.

But this IS an issue

a SERIOUS one

and is directed SPECIFICALLY at US

Our relationship with medicine is fraught and is JUSTIFIABLY SO.

And as a parent of a young child who gonna live her life being monitored its something I am researching closely and involved with daily.

We do have to find some type of meeting point to resolve this long standing issues.

Cause bad enough economically we at the bottom but our existing medical conditions make us even MORE of a target

and our bad relationship with medical services some legit some just made up stuff

is STILL killing us.

I read the article and its what I expected. The article right or wrong is attempting to use fear tactics to get black people to participate in testing and long-term convince others to take the vaccine. You're going to have a long day targeting that group of people.

My point was you need to convince those of us who are more open to the idea of the vaccine, but question the time to development. This is not just black people who feel this way. My issue with the article is that it gives the impression that black people are behaving irrational especially compared to other groups. If you factor out the conspiracy people and even those who don't trust the medical field based off historical events, the numbers for black people would more than likely be closure to the other groups that were asked. Not to mention if the presidential election polls showed us anything its people lie when asked about certain questions. It could very well be that black people are just more honest than other races when asked about certain types of questions.

As I said before, the early message around covid were all over the place and even now don't make sense to people. First it was you don't need to wear a mask and then it was changed within weeks. This is fine because as they learnt more about the problem they changed the recommendation. However, you can see why people wouldn’t be in a rush to put something that is being rushed to market in their body using that example alone. Second you told people that most people aren't at risk of dying or even getting sick from it, so it shouldn't be a surprise people are willing to wait it out unless they are forced to take it.

Again my issue isn't with the overall message which is black people should take part in more studies and shouldn't feel like people are trying to intentionally hurt them. Im not even saying people in general shouldn't take the vaccine. My issue is seemingly singling out blacks, attempting to use fear tactics ( true or not) and saying the fear especially based off historical events is irrational.

 

[Quek9]

Fam, take that shit...

 

[playahaitian]

I read the article and its what I expected. The article right or wrong is attempting to use fear tactics to get black people to participate in testing and long-term convince others to take the vaccine. You're going to have a long day targeting that group of people.

My point was you need to convince those of us who are more open to the idea of the vaccine, but question the time to development. This is not just black people who feel this way. My issue with the article is that it gives the impression that black people are behaving irrational especially compared to other groups. If you factor out the conspiracy people and even those who don't trust the medical field based off historical events, the numbers for black people would more than likely be closure to the other groups that were asked. Not to mention if the presidential election polls showed us anything its people lie when asked about certain questions. It could very well be that black people are just more honest than other races when asked about certain types of questions.

As I said before, the early message around covid were all over the place and even now don't make sense to people. First it was you don't need to wear a mask and then it was changed within weeks. This is fine because as they learnt more about the problem they changed the recommendation. However, you can see why people wouldn’t be in a rush to put something that is being rushed to market in their body using that example alone. Second you told people that most people aren't at risk of dying or even getting sick from it, so it shouldn't be a surprise people are willing to wait it out unless they are forced to take it.

Again my issue isn't with the overall message which is black people should take part in more studies and shouldn't feel like people are trying to intentionally hurt them. Im not even saying people in general shouldn't take the vaccine. My issue is seemingly singling out blacks, attempting to use fear tactics ( true or not) and saying the fear especially based off historical events is irrational.

i hear you completely and agree

 

[playahaitian]

Despite new policy, vaccine misinformation is spreading on Facebook and Instagram

Judd Legum and Tesnim Zekeria 17 hr ago 38 11

On Sunday, semi-trucks filled with millions of doses of a highly-effective COVID vaccine rolled out of a Pfizer facility in Kalamazoo, Michigan. The vaccine, jointly developed by Pfizer and BioNTech, will begin arriving at hospitals and other facilities on Monday. Healthcare workers and nursing home residents will be among the first to be vaccinated.

It is a rare moment of hope in a year of despair. The shots are desperately needed. In the last week, an average of 2,379 Americans died each day from COVID. Over 100,000 Americans are currently hospitalized with the virus.

But, in certain corners of Facebook and Instagram, the delivery of the vaccine is the beginning of a dystopian nightmare. Users are told the vaccines could "cause irreversible genetic damage," contain "brain-eating nanobots," and represent "the rollout of a total surveillance state where [the government] can penetrate deep within your body and see what’s going on." These false claims continue to spread on Facebook and Instagram despite a new policy, announced December 3, that bans "false claims about the safety, efficacy, ingredients or side effects of the vaccines."

Specifically, Facebook pledged to "remove false claims that COVID-19 vaccines contain microchips, or anything else that isn’t on the official vaccine ingredient list."

Right now, demand for the vaccine vastly outstrips supply. But in the coming months that will change. The biggest benefits of vaccination accrue when enough people are immunized that the population achieves "herd immunity" and the virus peters out. So the challenge becomes convincing enough people that the vaccinations are safe.

This is a top concern of Anthony Fauci, the nation's leading infectious disease expert, because it could needlessly extend the length of the pandemic. "My primary biggest fear is that a substantial proportion of the people will be hesitant to get vaccinated. I think there are going to be many people who don't want to get vaccinated right away," Fauci told The Daily Beast. Fauci is even concerned that a significant number of healthcare workers, who will receive priority access, may decline the vaccine.

Much of the hesitancy around COVID vaccines are based on misinformation about their safety — misinformation that continues to spread widely on Facebook and Instagram. For example, a December 11 post on the Children's Health Defense Instagram page says that vaccine manufacturers use "human fetal cells and adult human tumor cells in vaccines" and that "vaccine recipients might later develop cancer." The post then encourages people to use that information to evaluate the "safety and efficacy of Pfizer’s COVID vaccine." Pfizer, however, is an mRNA vaccine. It is developed synthetically and does not use fetal or adult cells. And, there is no evidence that any current vaccine causes cancer.

The post was not removed. Instead, it quickly garnered 4,860 likes, pushing it to the top of the Instagram feed of the Children's Health Defense's 143,000 followers.

Children's Health Defense is not an obscure organization. It was founded by Robert Kennedy Jr. and is one of the nation's most prominent sources of vaccine misinformation. The group, initially called the World Mercury Project, accounted for a large percentage of anti-vaccine Facebook ads, before Facebook banned the practice. If Facebook is not enforcing its new policy against Children's Health Defense, is it enforcing it at all?

In its December 3 announcement, Facebook said it "will not be able to start enforcing these policies overnight." But why not? We are in the middle of a public health crisis that vaccine misinformation is threatening to make worse. Facebook had $7.8 billion in after-tax profits in the third quarter, up 29% from 2019. COVID vaccines will become available to some Americans starting Monday. Further delay could be deadly.

“Earlier this month we began removing false claims about COVID-19 vaccines and as facts about the vaccine continue to evolve, we will regularly update the claims we remove. This is a continued application of our policy to remove misinformation that leads to imminent physical harm. As with all of our Community Standards, any Pages and accounts that repeatedly break these rules will be removed from the platform,” Facebook said in a statement to Popular Information.

A world without truth

With more than 1.5 million followers, WorldTruth.TV is one of the largest super-spreaders of misinformation on Facebook. The page regularly publishes political and health conspiracies.

On December 4, WorldTruth.TV shared an article with the headline “Experts Warn mRNA Vaccines Could Cause Irreversible Genetic Damage.” In the article, the author falsely suggests that mRNA vaccines will alter genetic material.

This claim, however, has been widely debunked — mRNA vaccines cannot alter your DNA. “Though both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines contain synthetic genetic material, they do not genetically modify humans receiving them,” according to a Reuters fact check.

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Despite this, WorldTruth.TV shared this link an additional six times over the past week. None were removed, despite the clear violation of Facebook’s COVID vaccine policy. The sole context provided is an information label represented by a tiny "i" symbol. That symbol, when clicked on, reveals that “Independent fact-checkers say multiple posts from WorldTruth.TV are false.”

Other false posts from WorldTruth.TV that remain on Facebook include “Brain Eating Nanobots Being Put in Vaccines Says Whistleblower,” “Wearing A Mask Offers Little If Any Protection From Infection,” and “Treason: QAnon Exposes Obama/Hillary 16-year Coup D’Etat.”

Instafake

On December 5, InnovativeParentingNJ, an anti-vaccination account with more than 2,600 followers, shared an image that featured the headline “Head of Pfizer Research: Covid Vaccine is Female Sterilization.” This claim, reports Politifact and others, is not true. According to Facebook’s new policy, the post should be removed. But this did not happen. Instead, it was blurred and displayed a label that read “False Information.” Users can view the post with a single click.

Another Instagram account, exposing_the_truth2day, recently shared an infographic titled the “COVID-19 roadmap.” It stated that “new DNA altering vaccines will create genetically modified humans that can be bioengineered for obedience and sterility.” The account, which has over 18,600 followers, regularly publishes misinformation. Just yesterday, the account published a conspiracy video and falsely stated in the caption that “These mandatory vaccines contain experimental genetically modified DNA-editing substances that will permanently modify the human organism and create a new generation of GMO humans.” It was viewed at least 1,700 times.

Streaming deadly misinformation

On December 4, Sayer Ji, founder of the pseudoscientific health site GreenMedInfo, published a livestream on his Facebook page with Dr. Joel Bohemier discussing how the upcoming vaccine will allow the government to track people. The stream was shared on GreenMedInfo’s page, which has more than 540,000 followers.

During the stream, the two suggested that the vaccine will contain ingredients — “tracking chips you can call them” states Ji — that will contribute to “the roll out of a total surveillance state where they can penetrate deep within your body and see what’s going on.” This is false — tracking chips are not being injected into people.

Bohemier and Ji go on to falsely link vaccination to increasing the likelihood of autism and misleadingly assert that vaccines are turning humans into “genetically modified organisms.” By the end of the hour-long stream, the two encourage people to deliberately walk into stores and restaurants without masks as a form of “nonviolent resistance.”

The stream, viewed at least 11,000 times, was not removed by Facebook.

On Instagram, GreenMedInfo and Ji spread unsubstantiated claims about COVID with even greater frequency, regularly posting about vaccines, the ineffectiveness of masks, and the pandemic being fake. Together, GreenMedInfo and Ji’s Instagram accounts have more than 106,000 followers.


Departing Facebook staffers blast overreliance on artificial intelligence


One reason that Facebook may be so ineffective in removing vaccine misinformation is an overreliance on artificial intelligence. A data scientist who recently departed Facebook worked on the team that dealt with hate speech, which is banned on Facebook. The former employee, according to a report in BuzzFeed, said that of the approximately five million pieces of hate speech posted to Facebook each day less than 5% was removed from the platform. (A Facebook representative disputed that calculation.) “It… makes it embarrassing to work here,” the employee said. The data scientist was among "at least four people involved in critical integrity work related to reducing violence and incitement, crafting policy to reduce hate speech, and tracking content that breaks Facebook’s rules" to leave the company in the past few weeks.

Another departing employee said a major issue was the company's overreliance on artificial intelligence.

AI will not save us. The implicit vision guiding most of our integrity work today is one where all human discourse is overseen by perfect, fair, omniscient robots owned by [CEO] Mark Zuckerberg. This is clearly a dystopia, but one so deeply ingrained we hardly notice it anymore.

“Our current approach to automation is not going to solve most of our integrity problems,” another data scientist said.

Popular Information asked Facebook about the role of artificial intelligence in Facebook's new vaccine policy, and how many employees are involved in enforcement. The company did not respond.