Scientific Distrust Leads to COVID-19 Vaccine Skepticism
- Zaria Elery
- Jan 5, 2021
- 2 min read
Contributor: Zaria Elery, Chapter Secretary
The FDA has recently allowed emergency use of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine and distribution has begun for some health care and frontline workers. When the vaccine becomes available to the general population it is imperative that members of minority communities get vaccinated, especially African Americans, given that black people make up 13% of the population but account for 21% of COVID-19 related deaths. Though many of us in the science field understand that the vaccine will be vital to slowing the spread of the Coronavirus and decreasing COVID-19 related deaths there will likely be push back against the vaccine by communities of colors because of the ongoing distrust they have in scientist. For black people this distrust stems from medical experimentation during slavery to more recent unethical events like the Tuskegee syphilis study and HeLa cell extraction.
In 1932 researchers from the U.S. Public Health Services (PHS) started the Tuskegee syphilis studywith 600 African American male participants. The participants were told they were being treated for bad blood, which was umbrella term used to describe several ailments including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. The purpose of the study was to observe the natural progression of the syphilis disease. Therefore, once penicillin became available the PHS researchers convinced local doctors not to treat the participants even as the men went blind, experienced other severe health problems related to untreated syphilis and died. Initially, this study was projected to last six months but was not shut down until 1972.
In 1951 Henrietta Lacks, a black woman receiving cancer treatment at John Hopkins hospital, had her cells taken without her consent. Henrietta’s cells (HeLa cells) have been reproduced and distributed countless times for medical research use around the world. Though, HeLa cells have played a significant role in many medical advancements such as the polio vaccine development and blood disorder treatments; her family had not received any significant reparations from the scientific community until recently when the Howard Hughes Medical Institute made a six figure donation to the Henrietta Lacks foundation.
When distribution of the COVID-19 vaccine to the general population begins its important to understand that these past unethical events may cause some people to question the intentions of the vaccine and therefore they may not get vaccinated. As members of the scientific community, we need to listen to their concerns and provide resources to help educate all people on the safety and importance of the COVID-19 vaccine. We also need to continue to work to regain the trust of minorities by acknowledging past wrongdoings and being more accessible to our local communities.
Resources to help explain the importance of the COVID-19 vaccine:
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