TUSKEGEE, Alabama (AP) – Lucenia Dunn spent the early days of the coronavirus pandemic encouraging people to wear masks and keep a safe distance from each other in Tuskegee, a largely black city where the government once used unsuspecting African-American men like guinea pigs. in a study of a sexually transmitted disease.
Now the former mayor of the city has been immortalized as the home of the infamous “study of Tuskegee syphilis” be careful to be inoculated against COVID-19. Among other things, she is suspicious that the government is promoting a vaccine that has been developed in record time, when it does not appear to be performing adequate virus testing or consistently providing quality healthcare in rural areas.
“I am not getting the vaccine now. That doesn’t mean I’ll never do it. But I know I won’t get it until we see everything involved, “said Dunn, who is black.
The coronavirus immunization campaign begins in a shaky start in Tuskegee and other parts of Macon County. Area leaders point to resistance among residents fueled by distrust of government promises and decades of failed health programs. Many people in this city of 8,500 have relatives who were subjected to unethical government experiments during the study of syphilis.
“It has an impact on decisions. Being in this community, growing up in this community, I would be very untrue if I didn’t say that, ”said Frank Lee, director of emergency management in Macon County. Lee is black.
Health experts have emphasized both the safety and effectiveness of vaccines. They noted that while vaccines were being developed at a record rate, they were based on decades of previous research. Vaccines used in the United States have shown no signs of serious side effects in studies of tens of thousands of people. And with over 26 million vaccinations administered in the US alone so far, no red flags have been reported.
Tuskegee is not a complete outlier. A recent study conducted by communications company Edelman revealed that as of November, only 59% of people in the US were willing to get vaccinated within a year, with only 33% happy to do so as soon as possible.
But skepticism seems to be deepening here.
While Alabama and the rest of the South were still segregated by race, government medical workers from 1932 onwards retained treatment for unsuspecting men infected with syphilis in Tuskegee and Macon County so that doctors could follow the disease. The study, which involved about 600 men, was completed in 1972 only after it was revealed by The Associated Press.
A lawsuit filed on behalf of the men by Black Tuskegee attorney Fred Gray resulted in a $ 9 million settlement, and then-President Bill Clinton formally apologized on behalf of the U.S. government in 1997. But the damage left a dent. legacy of distrust that extends far beyond Tuskegee: A December poll showed that 40% of blacks across the country said they would not receive the coronavirus vaccine. Such hesitation is more ingrained than among white people, even if black Americans have been disproportionately hit by the virus.
The Chicago-based black nationalist group Nation of Islam warns members across the country with an online presentation entitled “Beyond Tuskegee: Why Black People Should Not Get the COVID-19 Experimental Vaccine.”
Gray, now 90 and still practicing law in Tuskegee, rejects such comparisons. The study of syphilis and the COVID-19 vaccine are completely different, he said. He believes that it is enough for him to receive the vaccine himself and encourages others to do the same.
Georgette Moon is on a similar mission. Hoping to protect both herself and encourage her poor friends, the former city council member recently threw up an arm and let a nurse immunize her. Now, Moon said, if only more black colleagues could overcome their persistent fears and receive the vaccine.
“Study is a huge factor,” Moon said. “I had very qualified, well-educated people who tell me they won’t take it right now.”
The Macon County Health Department, which administers Moderna vaccines in two stages in its modern building near the center, could perform up to 160 immunizations a day, officials said. But a maximum of 140 people received the vaccine at any one time in the first six days of programming, with a total of 527 people immunized during this period. Healthcare workers, emergency care workers, and long-term care residents are currently eligible for shooting in Alabama, along with people 75 and older.
There are some signs of hope. State statistics show a slow increase in the number of people coming for vaccinations, and the word seems to be leaking to the community that it is OK to be vaccinated.
On the street at the county clinic, the Tuskegee Veterans Hospital vaccinates veterans 65 and older. While only 40% of VA workers in the area have been vaccinated, officials said, more people agree with the shootings than during the initial wave.
“I know people who have had the vaccine, heard more about it, are becoming more comfortable with it,” said Dr. April Truett, a doctor for infectious diseases at the hospital.
Rev. John Curry Jr. said he and his wife fired after the health department said they could receive meetings without a long wait. The pastor of the city’s oldest black church, Curry, said he encouraged congregations to receive the vaccine.
However, he said he also understands the power of persistent mistrust in a city that will forever be linked to the study of syphilis, one of the most insulting episodes in the history of public health in the United States.
“It’s a stain on Tuskegee,” he said. “It hangs in people’s minds.”