The State of Ohio said almost 10 percent of Ohioans have gotten the first dose of the Covid vaccine. However, numbers are not created equal among different races in the state.
More than 850,000 white people have gotten the shot while just over 58,000 black people have been vaccinated.
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“There are several reasons for this disparity,” said Dr. Kofi Amoah, a graduate of Cedarville University’s School of Pharmacy and a clinical research scientist for the Pfizer vaccine.
He said as some people get more comfortable with the idea of the vaccine, he is not seeing that same shift in the black community.
Dr. Amoah explained, medical mistreatment in the past, including the Tuskegee syphilis study, contributes to distrust of current medical practices, including the newly developed Covid vaccines.
“The mistrust that they do have in our clinical or in our medical department is still there,” Dr. Amoah said.
Current socio-economic issues can also contribute to a lack of access to the vaccines.
“We have to get the churches engaged. We have to get the communities engaged. We have to even be cognizant of the fact that if we want to have clinics close by where we have the majority of the people being black,” Dr. Amoah said.
He added, communication about the vaccines’ safety and efficacy needs to come from people of color.
“We know our people more. We understand them when they come and they bring their grievances. We can talk their language. We can explain things to them,” Dr. Amoah said.
Dr. Amoah explained having providers of color can also provide a sense of protection.
“We will not stand aside and watch our people be mistreated or not go through an ethical procedure,” Dr. Amoah said.