Town hall meeting organized to address 'vaccine hesitancy' in minority communities
AURORA, Colo. — The Office of Diversity and Inclusion at CU Anschutz Medical Campus is hosting a virtual town hall event Thursday, January 14, to answer “honest questions” about the COVID-19 vaccines currently being administered in Colorado.
The event is titled “Real Talk for Black and Brown Communities” and will cover the hesitancy in minority communities to receive the COVID-19 vaccines.
The panelists include, but are not limited to:
- Dr. Terri Richardson, Vice Chair of Colorado Black Health Collaborative
- Dr. Fernando Holguin, Professor of Medicine-Pulmonary Sciences & Critical Care and the director of the Latino Research & Policy Center
- Dr. Jerreed Ivanich, Assistant Professor with the Centers for American Indian and Alaska Native Health
The town hall is scheduled to run from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.
“Hear from Black Professionals who have been directly involved in the development of the vaccine,” the flyer for the town hall reads. You can register for the event here.
A recent study from the Kaiser Family Foundation found that 35% of Black adults said they “definitely or probably would not” get the COVID-19 vaccine. In Colorado, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment (CDPHE) Jill Hunsaker Ryan said that while 70% of white Coloradans said they would get the vaccine, just 53% of Black Coloradans and 56% of Hispanic Coloradans said the same.
Compared to white Americans, COVID-19 hospitalization rates are three times higher among Black Americans, 3.4 times higher among Hispanic or Latino Americans, and 3.3 times higher among "Non-Hispanic American Indian or Alaska Native persons," according to recent data from the CDC.
The KFF study found that the main reasons people are hesitant to get the vaccine are possible side-effects and "lack of trust in the government to ensure the vaccines’ safety and effectiveness."
The vaccination hesitancy among minority populations is often rooted in America’s history of medical racism, like the once-secret Tuskegee experiment that started in 1932 in which hundreds of Black men in Alabama were left untreated for syphilis.
Ryan addressed medical racism in a recent press conference with Governor Jared Polis.
“We know that we must be deliberate about achieving equity, meeting communities where they are...and addressing vaccine hesitancies that are rooted in historical injustices,” she said.
Many experts, including Dr. Fauci, are trying to build confidence in minority communities by pointing out the fact that a Black doctor, Dr. Kizzmekia “Kizzy” Corbett, was instrumental in developing the Moderna vaccine.
In a commentary piece for GBH, Callie Crossley wrote:
“[Corbett’s] role in the vaccine development is now more important than ever as public health officials like her NIH colleague Dr. Anthony Fauci try to allay fears and dismiss conspiracies among the so-called vaccine reticent — those Americans who are not sure that they trust the COVID vaccines to be safe and effective.”
More than 40,000 Coloradans have been vaccinated with two doses of either the Pfizer or Moderna COVID-19 vaccine. More vaccine data from CDPHE is available here.