San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Vaccine effort haunted by ugly history of Tuskegee
Public health officials and a rise in new cases tell us we’re entering a dark and dangerous COVID-19 winter. Piercing through the gloom are widening lights of optimism about new vaccines, which will be available to everyone in the coming months.
Yet because of some of this nation’s past dark deeds, communities that have been the hardest hit by the virus are the most skeptical of the vaccine and the government’s intentions, and they’re the least likely to be inoculated when it’s available. This distrust, if not addressed, will keep those communities and the entire nation at a greater risk than necessary.
A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Undefeated has revealed a deep reluctance among African Americans to take a vaccine. But a survey released last week by COVID Collaborative, Langer Research, UnidosUS and the NAACP explained why Black and Latino communities are hesitant and resistant.
According to the survey, fewer than half of all Black people would take the virus. Only 14 percent believe a vaccine will be safe, and just 18 percent believe it could protect them from COVID-19. Among Latinos, 66 percent said they’d definitely or probably take it, while 34 percent trusted its safety and 40 percent thought it would work. Why? The sins of history.
Among African Americans, historical knowledge of the uses of Blacks, living or dead, for medical experimentation eclipses trust, and the one word most responsible for this fear is “Tuskegee.” As in the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.”
From 1932-1972, the U.S. Public Health Service conducted an experiment on the progression, without treatment, of the deadly venereal disease. The secret study recruited 600 Black men, 399 of whom were diagnosed with syphilis and 201 without the disease who were a control group.
Some of the men thought they were being treated for other ailments and were promised free meals and other enticements. None of the men in the experiment gave his consent, and those with syphilis were never told they weren’t being treated. The reason for their participation was so researchers could observe their deterioration.
Over the course of 40 years, at least 28 men died of syphilis; 100 others died from related complications; at least 40 wives were infected; and 19 children contracted the disease at birth.
Tuskegee is why parents of students at two historically Black colleges were upset when the school presidents volunteered their campuses for an experimental vaccine.
In Black and Latino communities, other factors, such as education, strength of racial identity and previous experiences with the flu vaccine, account for skepticism about COVID-19 vaccines.
These fears, especially those of African Americans rooted in recent history, are understandable, but they must be overcome. Vaccinating as many Americans as possible is necessary to build herd immunity against COVID-19.
In the months leading up to the availability of the vaccine, it is important for trusted representatives in Black and Latino communities to convince them of the safety, effectiveness and necessity of the vaccine.
The fight against COVID-19 has always been a communitarian one requiring everyone to protect each other by following public health protocols — wearing masks, social distancing and not gathering in large numbers.
Vaccines will be the next step in this communitarian purpose. The greater the number of us taking it, the faster we can put this virus behind us.