I’m a retired Pediatrician who’s been around a long time. My job entailed giving a lot of vaccines to children and young adults.
When I first started, we gave very few injections. As time went on it became more and more.
I’ve seen the wards in hospitals filled with children with different infectious diseases…we put cribs in the playroom and hallways at times to accommodate the many ill kids.
I’ve seen hospitals close their wards now due to non-use as a result of vaccines.
Smallpox has been eradicated by the use of the vaccine. We no longer give the smallpox vaccine.
That being said, when I heard about warp speed vaccine production from the previous occupant of the White House, I was skeptical. I reflected on our past history with the Tuskegee project and other “research” done on Black folks. I said that I would wait to see what happens to others first…. but with my search for knowledge, I found out that this technology, using messenger rna, has been studied for at least 10 years so it was easy for them to attach a part of the spike protein and test it for efficacy. They’ve done the clinical testing and it has been reviewed by several agencies before approving it for use.
I’ve seen that Black physicians have worked on these vaccines. Dr. Dara Richardson-Heron is the Chief Patient Officer for Pfizer. Dr. Corbett worked with Dr. Fauci on the Moderna vaccine.
30% of US participants in clinical trials were from diverse groups, 10% were Black.
We know that the Black population is at much more risk for getting this disease because we are the essential workers. We can’t work from home. We live in multi-generational homes. We are more likely to have diabetes, kidney disease, sickle cell, obesity and other conditions that affect our immune system and make us more likely to have severe illness when we contract this virus and therefore more likely to die.
Vaccine hesitancy is not new to our population…only 39% of Black folks got the flu vaccine in 2019.
I’ve been on webinars with Black physicians from several organizations. Dr. Mc Dougal, the President of the NMA has spoken out in support of this vaccine as have the Presidents of all of the Divine Nine Organizations and The Links, Inc.. Can all of these people have been duped?
It’s time to remove the politics from this discussion. It’s time to follow the science. It is better to get the vaccine than to die from Covid-19. We can’t get back to normal if we’re not vaccinated.
My first dose is scheduled for March 20th…wish it could be sooner.
Vaccines don’t prevent disease, vaccinations do!
Denise Robinson, MD
