Beyond partisanship: Black people and covid vaccine hesitancy

The ghosts of the Tuskegee Experiment shouldn't stop you from getting the shot

I had planned to do a detailed post on vaccine hesitancy among black people, the kind that sometimes gets lost in our political wars. It is true that the those most likely to have Covid-19 vaccine hesitancy are Trump supporters and other Republicans. Make of that what you will; I’ll leave that political debate for another day. But a significant factor in racial disparities rates among the vaccinated is hesitancy by black people.

A disturbing story in the New York Times about what’s happening in New York among young black people just got to me. Essentially, they are using the history and presence of racism to make some really unwise decisions about covid.

From that piece titled: Why only 28 percent of Black New Yorkers are vaccinated

In interviews, Black men and women said that much of their distrust of the coronavirus vaccine was shaped by their own experiences with discrimination or their identity as Black Americans.

“I’m supposed to worry about getting sick when I go outside, versus getting killed by a cop or something like that?” said Jayson Clemons, 41, the construction site safety manager from Queens. After years of trying to be careful not to give the police a reason to stop him — avoiding cars with window tint or rims, and making sure when commuting that his attire clearly marked him as a construction worker — he said he refused to be preoccupied by Covid-19.

He said he would rather put his trust in masks and hand sanitizer — which he credits with keeping him healthy as he worked at construction sites throughout the pandemic — than a new vaccine that the government is pushing people to take. “They came out with one so fast for Covid, and now they want to pay you to take it,” he said. “It seems fishy.”

Some Black women described the need they felt to conduct their own research — and ask around — before deciding if the coronavirus vaccine was safe.

“It takes a little bit of hyper-vigilance when you’re a woman of color,” said Jazmine Shavuo-Goodwin, 31, who believes she encountered medical racism when doctors were dismissive of her severe stomach problems. “There’s a lot of homework you have to do, because your doctors may not truly listen to you, to your full complaint, before they’ve already diagnosed you.”

I was going to detail why on some level it makes sense for black people to be skeptical of a medical system that has failed us so spectacularly for such a long time, and has used us as guinea pigs. Now I don’t have to, because Leonard Pitts of the Miami Herald has said all that needs to be said.

Read his piece and share it widely. Please.

A taste of it:

I also have two sons and a grandson who refuse to take the COVID vaccine. I am scared to death for them.

Most of the public discussion of vaccine hesitancy is dominated by Republicans behaving badly, the clownish people who think vaccines will magnetize them or let Bill Gates track their movements. But beyond political party, race (along with age) has emerged as a major predictor of skepticism. A recent Economist/YouGov poll found that less than half of Black and Hispanic adults have been fully vaccinated, compared with well over 60% percent of white ones. And mistrust is a major reason, though not the only reason, for that disparity.

My boys and I, we do this dance. They give me their reasons for not getting the shot, I give them rebuttals.

You can find the full piece here: Blacks have good refuse to distrust health system, but not good enough to refuse COVID vaccine

It was developed too fast, they say. It’s called an emergency, I say; you get out of the house faster when it’s burning.

I don’t know what’s in it, they say. You don’t know what’s in Cheez Whiz, I say, but that doesn’t stop you from eating it.