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American blacks are less likely to receive the coronavirus vaccine than whites, but are more likely to get sick and die from COVID-19.
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Some are concerned about the speed of development of the vaccine. Dr. James EK Hildreth, a Black immunologist, explained how the process was safely accelerated.
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He also said that the coronavirus vaccine “looks nothing like Tuskegee,” in part because black scientists like him were involved in every step of the process.
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Because the coronavirus vaccine is randomly distributed across the country, black Americans are being left behind.
An analysis by Kaiser Health News found that while black Americans are disproportionately affected by COVID-19, in some states their vaccination rates are two to three times lower than their white neighbors.
The gap is partly due to a long history of racial discrimination and ill-treatment by the United States’ health care system, which contributed to mistrust of vaccines among people of color. In December, 35% of blacks said they probably or definitely would not have the chance.
Dr. James EK Hildreth, a black immunologist who serves on the FDA committee that authorized Pfizer and Moderna injections for emergency use in the United States, understands why.
“How can we be sure that a vaccine developed so quickly is safe and effective?” he said people of color ask him, adding that they also “don’t want to be guinea pigs, they don’t want to be experimented with like men in the Tuskegee experiment of many decades ago”.
He addressed these concerns during the Conclave Choice Healthy Living of the Black Clergy, an online gathering of more than 100 Black clergy, public health leaders and corporate and scientific leaders who are working to boost COVID-19 testing and other resources in the Black community.
The doctor said there are three main reasons that explain the speed of development of the vaccine, and many others because the vaccine against coronavirus “is nothing like Tuskegee”.
The vaccine was developed quickly due to technology, parallel processes and existing infrastructure
Previous vaccines took years to develop. After decades of global research, an HIV vaccine is still difficult to find.
But coronavirus vaccines were developed in just 10 months, which “is likely to be considered one of the greatest scientific achievements of this century,” said Hildreth, who is also president and CEO of Meharry Medical College.
This was possible because “we have technologies at our disposal that just a few years ago were not even imaginable,” he said. In addition, vaccines are usually developed iteratively or with one step completed before the next one begins. “In this case … those [processes] have worked in parallel, “said Hildreth.
Finally, the existing global infrastructure for HIV vaccine development – including scientists and facilities – revolved around COVID-19, eliminating the need to develop a new one from the beginning.
The coronavirus vaccine ‘is nothing like Tuskegee’
During the infamous Tuskegee experiment, US scientists monitored about 400 black men with syphilis, but did not treat them for the disease, nor did they even tell them they had it. The study lasted about four decades, according to a timeline from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the United States, ending in 1972.
Hildreth said Tuskegee’s horror led to major changes in human research.
Today, institutional review boards approve research protocols before they can begin, data security monitoring boards continually observe data from ongoing tests to ensure it is safe, and advisory groups review the data before recommending vaccine approval.
Black people are involved in everything, said Hildreth. “We have been involved in all stages of development, we are sitting on all sides of the table, and that alone makes it very different from the Tuskegee experiment.”
He added that his university, a historically black institution, is involved in vaccine testing and in providing the vaccine to people in his community. “We would not risk our reputation as an institution if there was the slightest concern that vaccines were not safe.”
Finally, 10% of vaccine test participants were black and 30% to 50% had underlying diseases such as diabetes, asthma, obesity and hypertension that disproportionately affect people of color. In all of these groups, vaccines were more than 90% effective.
“For all these reasons, I am convinced that this is a vaccine that people of color should get,” said Hildreth, “because otherwise, we would be putting our lives and our communities at risk.”
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