WASHINGTON (AP) – Imposing and deliberate, with a distinct white streak in his black hair, Rev. Wallace Charles Smith began his Valentine’s Day sermon at Shiloh Baptist Church talking about love and vaccines.
“That’s what love is about. When you get the vaccine, you are telling everyone around you that you love them enough to not want any harm, harm or danger to happen to them, ”he said. “In the spirit of love, continue until you get the vaccine. That is the only thing that will put an end to this terrible scourge. “
The church was empty, except for a film crew and a small choir. Thanks to COVID-19, Smith’s Sunday sermons are now virtual affairs.
Still, health officials in the nation’s capital are hoping that Smith and other black religious leaders will act as community influencers to overcome what officials say is a persistent reluctance to vaccine in the black community. Smith and several other local ministers recently received their first vaccines.
Black residents make up just under half of Washington’s population, but make up almost three-quarters of the city’s COVID-19 deaths. The District of Columbia is offering vaccines to residents over the age of 65, but the figures show that older people in the poorest, blackest parts of Washington are lagging behind.
The authorities partially blame the historical distrust in the medical establishment, especially among black elderly people, who vividly remember the horrors of medical exploitation, such as the study of syphilis in Tuskegee, where hundreds of impoverished rural black men have suffered the effects of syphilis with minimal treatment for decades as part of the medical study.
“We know that we need to focus on black and brown communities,” said Dr. LaQuandra Nesbitt, director of the district’s health department, earlier this month. “We are not going to give up that black communities are interested in the vaccine. We will continue to answer your questions. We will continue to be very attentive on how to answer your questions. ”
The DC government is giving priority to registering the vaccine for predominantly black postal codes and running public information campaigns, including vaccinating the clergy. The latest figures show that the gap is narrowing, but the southeastern core of the city’s black community is still being vaccinated at the slowest rate.
“There is mistrust in our community. We can’t ignore that, ”said Rev. James Coleman of All Nations Baptist, who was vaccinated with Smith. “The church, and especially the black church, is essential. … This is what pastors do ”.
Coleman said he worked to create a positive vaccine atmosphere among the elderly in his church. Before a recent Sunday morning sermon, conducted by teleconference, elderly parishioners at Coleman’s church updated each other on their progress and congratulated those who were vaccinated.
“There was a certain nervousness to overcome at the beginning,” said Coleman. “People outside the black community sometimes cannot identify with this sensitivity.”
Health departments across the country are tackling the same challenges, and other jurisdictions are also calling on religious leaders to help dispel vaccine fears.
“Our role as a clergy and as religious leaders is to be optimistic and hopeful. We tell our people that these vaccines are the gift of life. We believe in science, ”said Rev. HB Holmes Jr. of the Bethel Missionary Church in Tallahassee, Florida.
Holmes was vaccinated and his church organized vaccination campaigns.
“We knew this because of the hesitation and reluctance that we needed reliable voices. So, we brought together people of great influence in the black and brown communities, particularly from our community, to say, you know, I’m going to get the vaccine and roll up my sleeves and do it publicly. ” he said.
In Washington, Avenida Pennsylvania Baptist Church was designated a “faith-based vaccination partner” with a portable vaccination trailer mounted in the church’s parking lot twice a week. Vaccinations went well. But showing that vaccine skepticism transcends racial lines, a white DC resident, Kathy Boylan, crossed the city on a recent frosty day to stand on the sidewalk in front of the church with a sign saying “Danger: COVID Vaccine Say No!”
The city’s community influence campaign targets more than just religious leaders.
Prominent figures from Black Washington, such as Vice President Kamala Harris, local radio presenter Kojo Nnamdi and Doug Williams, a Super Bowl winning quarterback for the Washington football team, all received their injections at the United Medical Center in southeastern Washington, and used their public platforms to encourage others to follow suit.
“I honestly believe that more people want to take it than not,” said Toya Carmichael, a hospital official, who said several people had asked for the same nurse who vaccinated Harris.
But some DC officials are insisting that simple cultural reluctance, while real, does not fully explain the delay in Washington’s racial vaccination. Interviews with black residents revealed a common set of complaints: elderly people who are unable to browse the online registration system or just wait to be informed that all appointments have been completed.
Lisa Chapman had to overcome personal reluctance and logistical obstacles to schedule vaccinations for her parents, Walter Coates, 82, and Rosa Coates, 80.
First she had to persuade them.
“I just wasn’t sure. I wanted to wait a while to see it, ”said Rosa Coates. ”But (Lisa) convinced me. She just kept talking to me about it. ”
Then it took more than 90 minutes of waiting, leaving the phone on speakerphone and returning when a human answered.
“It is a long time to wait. I think a lot of people want to do it. They just can’t get through, ”said Chapman.
DC Council member Kenyan McDuffie put part of the problem in the hands of the government. In an interview, McDuffie, who represents the southeast of Wing 5, called the vaccine distribution in the city “overwhelmingly unfair” and said that talking about the vaccine’s reluctance was obscuring the reality of frustration with the vaccine, compounded by the digital divide.
“I think there is a higher percentage of people who want to receive the vaccine and have difficulty scheduling appointments and being able to receive the vaccine,” he said. “My fear is that some of these residents have simply given up.”
Smith, in his Valentine’s Day sermon, spoke not only of fear, but also of the logistical difficulties of a confusing process.
“I know that many of you tried to get the vaccine, but there were so many challenges … waiting hours, only to find that what you thought was available is not there,” he said.
Given the community’s reluctance, city health officials say they cannot afford to frustrate or discourage those seeking vaccination.
Nesbitt said that a new registration model would take effect in March and would bring yet another “equity lens” to the vaccination process. In addition, the authorities have organized teams of “senior vaccine companions” to go to the homes of the elderly and help them through the online process.
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Associated Press writer Emily Leshner from New York contributed to this report.