A quick little anecdote about my concern that rate of people who are willing to get the vaccine is going to be much lower than I had hoped and that if the powers that be use case rates instead of vaccine availability as the metric to eliminate restrictions, we are nowhere near the end of the tunnel.
I was talking to a guy that does custom woodworking for me. He is in his early 70s and Jamaican (I mention that because of the stats that COVID disproportionately effects minority communities). He told me that he's not sold on the safety of these vaccines, thinks the testing was rushed and doesn't want to get it anytime soon. He also reads the push to get the elderly to get it first as an indication that they want to use older people as Guinea pigs instead of the reality that they want to make it available to the most vulnerable.
I told him that my wife took it hoping that it would make him more comfortable since he both likes her and respects her. He still said he wants to wait until many people have gotten it and he can see the serious reactions people might have.
This is just a regular guy. He's not an anti-vaxxer or conspiracy nut. He's an intelligent man. I don't know his politics except that I know he voted for Obama so he's certainly not a right wing extremist. It was disappointing to hear this reaction from somebody like him.
Not sure of your background, but Black people in particular were used historically as guinea pigs in a lot of ways. The medical world has not treated them fairly either. The fear is real. The distrust is founded. Natives and Latinos have also been treated unfairly hence distrust.
The methods to convince will be different among marginalized. With my own family talking of the trial in terms of types of people in it helps. Getting on the darn phone to get my MIL scheduled for her vaccine was one way they couldn't argue.
Talking with my loved ones with true medical fears due to minority status is a different ballgame. What you speak of is real and something I fight often in my own family. Medical distrust for marginalized is far more complex than white man Joe Smith distrusting. It's deep seeded.
I don't know about you, but my waiting room was filled with young, old, white, Black, Latino, Arab, Asian... etc. Use those to help a Black person not fear. Better yet if you know a minority in the trial. Blacks, Latinos and Natives have true reason to distrust especially white medical staff that will be biased against them. So you have to address that.
what exactly is going on over there?? Is it new variant driven??? We are bad here in the states right now, based on what's happening over there are we going to get worse???
FYI the variant was found in Sept. It is here. It may or may not be causing problems. Wear your mask, wash your hands, stay home as much as possible. That's the best fight for it right now as we wait for vaccines. No need to borrow worry and stress when we just simply suck at tracing variants here.
www.kff.org
