While the camera appeared a bit inappropriate for the barbershop, the client was still casual and open when he said, "I don't feel as like it's safe. We don't know what medical staff are saying about this thing. It's like, who knows what's in this thing?"
His answer, along with several others, were put together in the short video "Voices from the Barbershop: Coronavirus Vaccine Edition," where everyday men answered the simple question to help inform public health officials of hesitations among members of the Black community.
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The initiative is part of a long-standing collaboration between Black barbershops, the public health and Stephen Thomas, PhD. It's one of the many initiatives to increase COVID vaccination uptake among Blacks. Thomas is the director of the Maryland Center for Health Equity at the University of Maryland.
Resolving the legacy of discrimination
Studies have revealed that the COVID-19 virus disproportionately impacts Black people as well as other minorities across the United States in severity, mortality, economics, and more. Thomas claims however that it was this summer that the New York Times had to sue the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to obtain a breakdown of infections caused by race. In the past, many believed that Black people were immune because of melanin that is found in the skin.
According to Joe Smyser, PhD, MSPH, CEO of the health communications company Public Good Projects, puts it, "Everybody knows about Tuskegee. Everyone knows something about Henrietta Lacks. However, what I rarely hear about is that systemic racism remains the cause of these unethical and horrible incidents.
Smyser cites a 2020 study that found Black infants are three times more likely to live if they're cared for by an Black doctor as compared to a white. In 2010, he explains that minority women were compelled to be sterilized in the US prison system. He also remembers Susan Moore, MD, an Black doctor, speaking out about the racial treatment she received after being admitted to COVID. The doctor later passed away of the disease.
It's not surprising that Black communities are more likely to accept vaccines because of mistrust as well as misinformation about COVID management that hasn't always protected those most vulnerable (think inequitable testing allocations and vaccination sites). How do public health professionals help to change external factors and personal emotion to raise vaccine uptake?
Rising acceptance of vaccines, however, they are still behind.
According to Kaiser Family Foundation's (KFF's) Feb 1 statistics that draw data from 23 states, Black and Hispanic people have had a lower proportion of vaccine doses. In 20 states, the number of Black people who were given COVID vaccines is at least half or less than the proportion of Black COVID cases.
The most significant gaps can be observed in Delaware (6%) vs 24% cases), Louisiana (13%) against 34%, Maine (11% vs 6%)) as well as Mississippi (17% vs 38%). Pennsylvania (3%) vs 14%. White people, on contrary are more likely to be a majority of vaccinated people than cases per states, with the exception of Alaska (28 percent vs. 38%) as well as Nebraska (88 percent vs. 89%).
In September two polls shed clarity on COVID beliefs and vaccine hesitancy. A KFF poll found that 85 percent of Black people trust their own local doctor or healthcare provider which is then the health department in their area (79 percent) and the CDC (78%) and the COVID federal lead Anthony Fauci, MD (77 percent). Only 12% of people believed in the former president Donald Trump.
Similar to that to that, the COVID Collaborative reported Black people were the most confident and had the highest trust in their personal healthcare provider (72%) however, they had a higher level of distrust toward Fauci (53 percent) as well as Trump (4 percent). A low level of trust was also seen in clinics and pharmacies (29 percent) and the Food and Drug Administration (19 percent).
However, vaccine acceptance has increased since the time of the survey. The January USA Today poll says 56 percent of Americans are expected to receive the vaccine as soon as they can, up 10 percentage points from the previous month. Fierce Pharma also reported that the Harris Poll showed an overall growth of 58% from October to 69% in January. Acceptance from Blacks increased from 43% to 58% respectively.
Public health advocates will still have to inform the public about information, clear up any the confusion, manage expectations and manage expectations about vaccination distribution and adverse consequences. If not it's like Thomas says, "It's an activity in frustration. This is great news but Black people aren't sure where to turn; the websites are crashing. We've deferred maintenance in the public health infrastructure, and now we're paying for it."
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