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Sometimes a cliché is right. The Sandtown neighborhood of West Baltimore, for example, looks like a war zone.
Most of the residents are African American, and what that means, not just here but nationally, is that they are hospitalized and die from COVID-19 at two to three times the rate of white Americans. Prison is the perfect breeding ground for disease, but when ex-convicts return home to Sandtown, they are given a milder understatement: “Returning Citizens.”
“We still have massive unemployment within the community. We have returning citizens,” Reverend Derrick DeWitt said.
DeWitt is a field marshal in the local war on poverty, disease and hunger.
“My church is located in a food wasteland. Seventy-four square blocks from Sandtown,” DeWitt told “CBS Sunday Morning” Ted Koppel. “We have about 109 establishments that sell alcohol. But we don’t have a single supermarket.”
Five thousand families a month receive food at First Mount Calvary Baptist Church. Convincing these same people to get vaccinated against COVID is more complicated. Blame some of this on the garbage that is circulating the internet.
“There is this conspiracy that Bill Gates helped them design a microchip that will be implanted in you as a result of the vaccination,” DeWitt said.
Even more dangerous are the distortions of a real medical scandal. One headline claims to show government health workers, clearly many years ago, injecting syphilis into blacks in rural southern areas. Then, at the bottom of the page, the question: “Do you still want a corona vaccine?”
The government didn’t inject anyone with syphilis, but what happened was, in some ways, even worse.
Dr Reed Tuckson is a co-founder of the Black Coalition Against COVID-19, providing information on the vaccine.
“Tuskegee’s study of untreated syphilis in African Americans began in the 1930s,” Tuckson told Koppel. “It was a study that was done without the informed consent of the men and it was done in a way that looked to observe what would happen to those who already had syphilis and it was not treated. . to see what the effects would be. “
Almost 50 years after its end, the Tuskegee study remains a problem.
“Unfortunately, in the 1940s, we had a drug called penicillin, which we knew was effective in treating this disease,” Tuckson said. “And these men were denied access. The study spanned 40 years with no one to alarm or worry.”
What happened to these men?
“Sadly, two things: These men died from illness and became extremely ill for very long periods of their lives.” Tuckson said. “And second, because they weren’t told about the disease they had, they passed it on to the women in their lives, to their wives and lovers, who also contracted syphilis.
“No one has ever been punished or held responsible … for this outrage,” Tuckson said. “And that’s a stain on the American conscience.”
It has also had a lingering impact on the black community’s confidence in the medical establishment.
“And what is so outrageous today is that 40 years later, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study experience continues to be the limiting step in the fight against this pandemic,” Tuckson said. .
“And then you tie all of that to the conspiracy theories out there,” DeWitt said. “When I talk to our… employees, that was it. ‘I don’t know what’s in the vaccine. I don’t trust him. They developed it too quickly. You know, they’re trying to make us sterile. . ‘”
In addition to his ministry, the Reverend runs a retirement home.
“This nursing home was established by a group of city pastors as the Maryland Baptist Aged Home for Colored People in 1920,” DeWitt said.
Across the country, more than 160,000 COVID deaths have occurred in nursing homes. All of this makes the health record of this nursing home even more remarkable.
“We haven’t had any COVID infections among our staff or residents, thank goodness,” DeWitt said. “So we consider it a miracle and a blessing.”
It is also the mark of a tough and disciplined manager.
“We have been extreme in our measures because we have not allowed anyone to enter,” DeWitt said. “Our residents did not go out unless it was an extreme emergency.”
But when the time came to vaccinate the staff: “I was surprised even in my retirement home, which has 42 employees. Our first vaccination clinic, we only had 11 employees who took the vaccine,” he said. DeWitt said.
The Reverend led by example. He was the first to be vaccinated. He spoke to his staff one by one. He prayed with them.
“So that helped,” DeWitt said. “And then we had to get to the point where, for the sake of our residents and the type of facility that we are, I’m not sure I can guarantee your job if you don’t take the vaccine.
All but two of its employees got the message – and the vaccine.
“We didn’t have to fire anyone,” DeWitt told Koppel. “There are differences as to whether or not we can impose the vaccine.”
“But what you are telling me is that we have now had COVID in this country for over a year,” Koppel said. “And during that time, you haven’t had a single case.
“We haven’t had a single case,” DeWitt said.
AG Rhodes operates three non-profit retirement homes in the greater Atlanta area. In the past year, 26 of their residents and 1 staff member died from COVID. Jovonne Harvey is the marketing director of the flagship establishment.
“About 90% of the establishment is probably African American,” Harvey told Koppel.
“And when the patients heard about the vaccine for the first time, what was the reaction?” Koppel asked.
“They made him feel welcome because they wanted to go back to their normal day-to-day duties,” Harvey said.
“And what about the staff, same?” Koppel asked.
Harvey said they “weren’t as excited about getting the vaccine as the residents.”
“You are very, very diplomatic,” Koppel said. “Not only were they not excited. They were resilient, weren’t they?”
“Yes, they were. They were very tough,” Harvey said. “I would say about 30% of the staff were ready to take the vaccine.”
The company organized a town meeting to address the concerns of its employees. Harvey, who herself initially hesitated, received the vaccine and was among the first to help spread the message:
“So you were kind of the role model in some ways,” Koppel said.
“I think it helped a lot,” Harvey said.
Well, not so much. The company even offered incentives: paid time off, bonuses of up to $ 500. Currently, only 48% of staff have been vaccinated.
“It’s not great. But it’s definitely a start,” Harvey said.
“Jovonne, we have been in the clutches of this pandemic for over a year,” Koppel said. “How long do people need? We have 450,000 dead.”
“I know,” Harvey said.
“What’s holding them back now?” Koppel asked.
“I just think it’s just a general fear,” Harvey said. “They are not sure which way to go.”
“I heard both young people talking to elders about their families and saying, ‘You really need to get the vaccine,’” Koppel told Dr. Reed Tuckson. “And on the other hand, I hear that among the people in the black community who are more suspicious of the vaccine, there are members of the young community. What is it about?
“The segment of the population that resists the most will be our young people. These are young people who have grown up with the greatest degree of mistrust, due to all the problems they have faced in their lives, especially with regard to criminal justice and policing issues. “Tuckson said.” So they are the ones who are the hardest to reach right now. “
Jim Mangia is President and CEO of St John’s Well Child and Family Center. Their community clinics in South Los Angeles and Compton see 100,000 patients per year, including 35,000 undocumented immigrants.
“LA is really the story of two cities. You have the extremely rich West Side, then you have the extremely poor South Side and East Side,” Mangia told Koppel.
St. John’s has been at the forefront of the battle against COVID. Now they are trying to tackle the misinformation about the vaccine.
Sending Spanish-speaking awareness-raising agents to Latino neighborhoods. They must reassure undocumented migrants that they will not be handed over to immigration and, more importantly, that getting vaccinated will not kill them.
St. John’s immunizes 1,500 to 2,000 people per day; but Jim Mangia insists it’s not enough.
“What do you think are the biggest barriers to getting California’s most underserved communities vaccinated?” Koppel asked.
“The lack of vaccine is a major problem,” Mangia said. “It’s extremely difficult to navigate the website and the arduous appointment system that the state has put in place. And a lot of our patients who work all day, by the time they get home, all these appointments – you got caught by people on the West Side – White, young hipsters who can spend all day looking for a vaccine. “
Preliminary government data shows a marked disparity between the races that receive the vaccines: more than 60% of vaccinations were for whites, less than 9% for Hispanics and less than 6% for blacks.
“I don’t think we’ll be successful if we don’t find a way to get the vaccine to people,” DeWitt said. “We see 5,000 people a month go through our church for food … If we can immunize during a food drive, if we enlist the faith community as a partner in the immunization process, I think it’s a long way. to make sure people get the vaccine. “
“You have to vaccinate the most vulnerable first and that’s how you’re really going to get herd immunity,” Mangia said. “You have to vaccinate the most hesitant, the most vulnerable, and then you can really start doing a mass vaccination and get us to a place where we can get back to normal life.”
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