English
Spanish
Editor’s note: Have something on your mind? “Community Voices” is the place to let Milwaukee hear what you have to say. To be considered, we need your name, email address and phone number for verification. Please email your submissions to info@milwaukeenns.org
When America gets a cold, the Black community gets pneumonia.
This is a saying that is well known to many who pay attention to topics of health care and health equity in this health-compromised and vulnerable population in America.
Yes, there have been colds, there has been pneumonia, and now there is COVID-19. Once again, those who can least accommodate another health epidemic are the most adversely affected.
As a national advocate for equity and a research consultant for the national We Can Do This COVID-19 vaccination campaign, these are not just my musings.
Look at the data.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black individuals are about twice as likely to be hospitalized or die from COVID infections than their white counterparts. They also report that pregnant Black women are twice as likely to die than their white counterparts if the cause is the COVID-19 virus.
Studies are pending regarding the effects of known variants of the virus on this same population, but there is no evidence to date to suggest that the data will positively affect the current disparate results.
However, COVID vaccination rates for the Black community still lag behind their white counterparts on all levels (primary vaccine series and additional vaccine doses).
Representing nearly 13% of the U.S. population, the Black community is one of our country’s communities hit hardest by the COVID pandemic.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Data Tracker, on Sept. 14, 43.3% of the Black population was fully vaccinated. This was the lowest among all races/ethnicities.
Research data, both primary and secondary, has disclosed several barriers viewed by the Black community as it relates to receiving the vaccine. Barriers identified were a failure to believe messaging around the benefits of the vaccines due to a reliance on sources that were not research documented and a lack of trust in traditional providers and the current health care delivery system.
Simply providing the vaccine in community locations was not enough to drive individuals to the sites, and other strategies were necessary to increase engagement and decision-making around the virus itself and ways to attack it that include vaccination and other preventive measures.
According to research conducted as part of the We Can Do This COVID-19 Public Education Campaign, several culturally related strategies were identified to address this issue.
The use of culturally linked partnerships with known entities (e.g., Black sororities, fraternities, social and fraternal organization), culturally targeted media programming where trusted messengers reflect the community of interest, and culturally targeted community outreach (activities in the community during community meeting times) rose to a priority level after the community was interviewed regarding their thoughts on the vaccines.
Data identified as barriers by other sources also indicated that hours when vaccinations were available were not conducive to access, as they impacted work hours and school activities.
Other barriers included a lack of transportation to several of the vaccine sites due to public transportation interruptions. There was also discussion around the lack of ease of registration for the vaccine and presenting information about the vaccine in an understandable fashion for the non-medical community.
It is clear that all those involved in the vaccine rollout must respect this message and those that carry the message, with a targeted effort on increasing trust in the health delivery systems through the removal of institutional barriers that continue to exist.
There is no “one size fits all” when it comes to addressing health equity issues. We must find the size that fits this adversely affected segment of the American family if we want the outcomes to be different. We too are America.
And that’s Real Talk!
Dr. Joan Prince is a native of Milwaukee and is a consultant on CMRignite’s Research Team. She was the first African American recipient of a bachelor’s degree in medical technology and master’s in clinical laboratory sciences, with a specialty in hematology and flow cytometry from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. In 2012, President Barack Obama nominated Prince as an alternate representative to the 67th General Assembly of the United Nations, with the honorary rank of ambassador. CMRignite is a subcontractor to the Fors Marsh Group for the We Can Do This COVID-19 Public Education Campaign.
You know this article is a JOKE! Now all of a sudden the black community is “more likely to die from Covid.” Instead of making execuses for us as to why we won’t get this experimental bio weapon because of all these barriers you feel the need to break through to reach us., because it’s exactly what it is. Out of all the vaccines I have received in my childhood I’ve never seen such aggression to push this into people and it doesn’t even protect you from Covid. They would love to have the black community be 100% vaccinated so we can die, because that’s what they want. They want to reduce the population and this weapon is it, that’s it’s purpose.
When in your lifetime did you experience a world-wide Pandemic ? Never.
During extraordinary times in history —1929 stock market crash, World Wars I & II–
Americans of all races modified their lives for the duration and for the greater collective good.
We are now entering only year 3 of COVID-19. People need to get a grip on their inability to face fact that extraordinary measures must be taken in order for more to survive and ultimately thrive. Your focus on some faceless persons wanting the Black community dead helps no one and feeds more negativity and distrust.
Beyond the structural, accessibility and messaging issues that affect Black and other low- income communities, there is another set of barriers that is both important and even harder to address. And, it is a set of issues that has grown more difficult during the pandemic and in its immediate aftermath. Even before the pandemic, social isolation, mistrust of institutions, and a sense of pessimism were barriers to all kinds of progress. Including getting needed vaccinations.
In a number of instances, what was pessimism seems to have become a sense of hopelessness. Although it is hard to measure or quantify, you can feel it on the street and in conversations with people who serve these communities. In a basic sense, the most important thing that can be done in communities with low levels of vaccination and all kinds of other negative “indicators” is to find ways to give large numbers of people a sense of hope for a better future.
It would be worth having discussion in NNS on how to go about doing that. And, if it is possible without groups having at least a basic level of economic security and some ability to see a better future.