The first doses of the Pfizer-Bioentech vaccine were delivered in the United States on Monday, marking a major milestone in an epidemic that has killed 300,000 Americans. Based on the recommendations of the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, the first groups to receive the vaccine were health workers and nursing home residents, two groups most severely affected by COVID-19.
But in New York, the first person to be vaccinated, the recipient, has even more meaning: both are black women. Sandra Lindsay, a key care nurse at the Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, was the first person to receive the vaccine and felt she was “confident” to the reporters who attended. Dr. Michael Chester Lindsay, director of staff health services at Northwell Health, was vaccinated.
Later, Lindsay thanked her fellow leading workers and spoke clearly about the importance of being one of the first people to be vaccinated in the United States, where vaccination reluctance is high among communities of color. “I want to build public confidence that the vaccine is safe,” Lindsay said. “We’re in an epidemic, so we all have to do it [our] Part of putting an end to the infection and not giving up too soon. ”
Dr. Uche Blackstock, CEO of Advanced Health Equity and Yahoo Life medical contributor, saw the image of two black women at the forefront. “I was emotional,” says Blackstock Yahoo Life. “It’s a powerful film.” Blackstock, who started an organization dedicated to addressing inequalities in health care, says there are more than one reasons why the film deserves attention.
First, black people are almost three times more likely to be infected with COVID-19 than whites, and more than twice as likely to die, studies have found that this is often due to work and housing. There is a history of unethical clinical trials conducted on black people, such as the Tuscany syphilis study, which has fostered distrust of physicians over the decades. Finally, existing medical racism persists today, resulting in large health imbalances such as black women being three times more likely to die in childbirth than white women.
Blackstock says for his own reasons and many more, the photograph of two black women at the forefront of one of the greatest medical advances in American history is very important. “There were many layers to that image,” Blackstock says. “I hope this will help build some confidence in the process. Here you have a black female nurse taking the vaccine and setting herself out as a role model for others.”
Of course, according to Blackstock, one film is not enough to address vaccine reluctance in the black community – it is a problem that is getting worse. In a poll conducted in October by the Stot News website and the Harris poll, just 43 percent of Black Americans said, “Once we get a vaccine, we will continue with it,” more than 20 percent less than in a similar poll in August.
Given the long-standing racism in the medical world, distrust of vaccines among black communities – as many have written – is valid. Blackstock says one of the best ways to address that was done on Monday: Put black health workers in key roles that see them as “trusted ambassadors”. “We have these living experiences as black people in this country, but we also work in health environments,” he says. “We have different perspectives on the vaccine and can digest the information in a different way than the general public. So, I had a warm feeling when I saw a black health worker caring for his patient.”
While the image of a black health worker is very important, he worries that it is not enough to spread awareness about the safety of the vaccine and its potential positive impact. Blackstock says: “I do not really see the extensive public health campaign about the vaccine and the concerns people have.” “I think that’s an issue.”
She and other black colleagues have been publicly and privately concerned about the possible consequences of the lack of messaging for their community. “I think we’re going to face challenges in getting vaccinated,” Blackstock says. “We are very concerned about the low rates of vaccine trust in black communities. I fear that black Americans will be left behind once again.”
However, the image of Lindsay and Chester on Monday gives some hope, as well as the coming of a new administration. “I understand that health inequality – and even the science of epidemiology – is a priority for incoming management,” says Blackstock. “So I hope we can find additional production strategies to address vaccine reluctance.”
For that Latest Corona Virus News and Updates, Follow with https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over the age of 60 and those with immunodeficiency are at constant risk. If you have questions, please indicate CDCAnd Of the WHO Resource guides.
Read more from Yahoo Life
Need to deliver lifestyle and health news in your inbox? Register here To the Yahoo Life newsletter.