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Eight prominent black doctors have written 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 are unlikely to get the first-generation coronavirus vaccine once it becomes available. Compared with just over half of white and Latino respondents who said they would receive the vaccine, 72% of black respondents said they would not get the Covid-19 vaccine immediately.
In addition to some general skepticism about the vaccine, there is historical skepticism within the black community about medical experimentation and vaccines. Many point to the experiments 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 men subjected to the tortuous Tuskegee’s syphilis study.
Doctors said their healthcare colleagues were aware of the collective mistrust. To get the black community to get vaccinated, “they have to 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 is 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 working to find the vaccine against this virus which has already taken so many of our loved ones.”
The physicians, who play “key decision-making roles from the lab to the clinic to the virtual conference room” 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, Doctor of Nursing Practice and President of the National Black Nurses Association; Wayne AI Frederick, President of Howard University; James Hildreth, president of Meharry Medical College; Valerie Montgomery Rice, president of the Morehouse School of Medicine; Randall Morgan, president of the Cobb Institute; and Reed Tuckson, founding member of the Black Coalition Against Covid.
The group called on the black community to hold them accountable for protecting their health. They also shared their role in a medical and racial justice framework and encouraged people to continue to practice safety precautions, even though surviving several months of the pandemic is a burden.
“We affirm that black lives matter. We love you. And as black medical professionals, we have a higher call to stand up for racial justice and fight for equity in health,” said the group. “We beg you to wear your masks, to continue to distance yourself, to wash your hands and to avoid events indoors until the vaccines are widely available.”
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