Read on Twitter
I have a few thoughts I'd like to offer about #vaccine acceptance. To my fellow (esp White) clinicians who are asking, "What are your strategies for convincing #BIPOC communities to take the #COVID19 vaccine?" this thread is for us…
1/19
1/19
First, I'd suggest that this is an unhelpful question & is racially problematic. It centers the holder of the mistrust as the target of the problem & intervention, not the system & history that caused the mistrust in the first place.
2/19
2/19
For more context on appropriately framing the source of the problem (system, history not mistrust), See the following thread from @DrJessIsomMDMPH:
https://twitter.com/DrJessIsomMDMPH/status/1337457394524282881?s=20
3/19
https://twitter.com/DrJessIsomMDMPH/status/1337457394524282881?s=20
3/19
Also, @ADocNamedDani breaks this down very concisely in her insightful question here:
https://twitter.com/ADocNamedDani/status/1339195168264773636?s=20
4/19
https://twitter.com/ADocNamedDani/status/1339195168264773636?s=20
4/19
Before we get into discussions abt “convincing” historically marginalized communities to "comply," please take some time to read some very important context from the #Black community on this topic. Many options for reading are in the following tweets of this thread.
5/19
5/19
Here is a very important perspective piece in @TheLancet from @gradydoctor regarding her experience with participating in a #COVID19 #vaccine trial and how it’s about more than medical mistrust. H/T @UREssien.
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32286-8/fulltext
6/19
https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(20)32286-8/fulltext
6/19
Here @DrFNA shares her experience as a participant in a #COVID19 #vaccine trial from her perspective as a Black woman, mother, wife, and physician.
https://twitter.com/DrFNA/status/1337814573341151235?s=20
7/19
https://twitter.com/DrFNA/status/1337814573341151235?s=20
7/19
Here @ChomiloMD shares his experience as a participant in a #COVID19 #vaccine trial from his perspective as a Black physician & #VaccinesSaveLives advocate.
https://twitter.com/ChomiloMD/status/1338912293724237837?s=20
8/19
https://twitter.com/ChomiloMD/status/1338912293724237837?s=20
8/19
Here @ZekeMD shares an important piece he wrote about his perspective as a Black physician in overseeing a #COVID19 #vaccine trial.
https://twitter.com/ZekeMD/status/1336030309742161920?s=20
9/19
https://twitter.com/ZekeMD/status/1336030309742161920?s=20
9/19
Here is an important piece by @EJToxicDoc about the challenges for Black Americans around #COVID19 #vaccine trials:
https://twitter.com/EjToxicdoc/status/1335722958002802692?s=20
10/19
https://twitter.com/EjToxicdoc/status/1335722958002802692?s=20
10/19
As @UREssien shared, this @NEJM perspective piece the importance of demonstrating trustworthiness before we can expect to be trusted.
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2030033
11/19
https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp2030033
11/19
In the aforementioned @NJEM piece, the authors state
"...we fear that once again the responsibility for addressing the sequelae of centuries of racism is falling on Black people themselves."
12/19
"...we fear that once again the responsibility for addressing the sequelae of centuries of racism is falling on Black people themselves."
12/19
We are perpetuating this by targeting the holders of the mistrust, asking unhelpful questions, & failing to demonstrate our trustworthiness. Our Black colleagues are bearing a greater burden to ensure #COVID19 #VaccineEquity as a result.
13/19
13/19
Quite frankly, how can we expect to be trusted when we don't even take care of "our own?" There are severe racial disparities in healthcare both in patient outcomes & in our own house (via lack of representation, inequitable compensation, promotion, & leadership opps).
14/19
14/19
So, I would offer that first, we prove that we are trustworthy. Then, we ask a more helpful question such as, "How can I demonstrate my trustworthiness & support my patients in making an informed choice about how they would like to receive their care?"
15/19
15/19
This is not the same as organizations posting token photos of Black healthcare workers getting the vaccine, as @AtashaJordan very aptly points out:
https://twitter.com/AtashaJordan/status/1339260372310749190?s=20
16/19
https://twitter.com/AtashaJordan/status/1339260372310749190?s=20
16/19
This "tokenizing" among healthcare orgs is very problematic and an appropriation of the incredibly intensive labor that our Black colleagues are giving to #VaccineEquity. We don't get to borrow the labor of others and hold up pictures to take credit for their work.
17/19
17/19
It's about embodying a #RadicalHealing approach as the amazing @Wizdomisms beautifully lays out in much of her work. Her recommendations for engaging communities =
- Serve first
- Build together
- Show your work
- See the community as valuable, wise, worthy, NOT victims
18/19
- Serve first
- Build together
- Show your work
- See the community as valuable, wise, worthy, NOT victims
18/19
TY to all the people tagged in this thread (& many others) for your incredible work, time, & advocacy. Follow them. Listen to them. Learn from them. Thank them. And please, let's start asking more helpful questions.
#COVID19 #CovidVaccine #VaccineEquity #HealthEquity
19/19
#COVID19 #CovidVaccine #VaccineEquity #HealthEquity
19/19
