Community-Based Organizations Bridge Vaccination Divides In Communities Of Color

Upper West Side NY

12 December, 2021

12:37 PM

Description

Columbia Daily Spectator BY CLAIRE HUNT DECEMBER 10, 2021 When COVID-19 vaccines first became available in New York City, Central and East Harlem were among the neighborhoods with the lowest rates of vaccination and the highest rates of COVID-19 cases and deaths. Now, with 70 percent of New York City residents vaccinated, Harlem's vaccination rates have begun to bridge the previous gap and are now up to 64 percent full vaccination in ZIP codes such as 10027, which encompasses Morningside Heights and West Harlem. Luisa Borrell is a professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at the Graduate School of Public Health and Health Policy at the City University of New York. Referencing vaccination rates throughout the pandemic, Borrell believes Harlem's rates have finally reached a position where the people in the community are not at higher risk. "[Vaccination rates] are average with the rates for New York City, which is good news," Borrell said. "Because last year we saw higher rates in Harlem than in the rest of the borough." In May 2020, the Harlem area had the highest rate of COVID-19 deaths among all Manhattan neighborhoods. After COVID-19 vaccines had become available to all adults, Harlem continued to have high rates of cases and low rates of vaccination. Recently, however, Dr. W. Ian Lipkin of the Mailman School of Public Health explained that "referring to West Harlem … Morningside Heights, Central Harlem, and North Harlem are not the areas of the city with the highest risk." Morningside Heights, Central Harlem, and West Harlem currently have higher overall vaccination rates, at 64 percent full and 73 percent partial vaccination, compared to other areas of New York City, like Borough Park, with rates as low as 52 percent partial and 47 percent full. The delay in vaccinating citizens of Harlem and Morningside Heights, where by February 2021 only 26 of all 125 sites across Manhattan were above 110th Street, put the already at-risk population in further peril of the dangers of COVID-19. Communities of color have been disproportionately affected by COVID-19, and only 49 percent of Black individuals in New York City are fully vaccinated, compared to 56 percent of white individuals. Borrell explained that Harlem's dramatic increase in vaccination rates are a result of increased access to vaccination, which she refers to as a "game-changer." "Access is important because when the vaccine came out at the beginning, you needed to go in the middle of the night to get an appointment," Borrell said. "But now you walk around the block, and there is a truck from the health department recruiting people to get the vaccine." Stories of immunocompromised and other high-risk Harlem community members who had difficulty scheduling and getting to vaccine appointments were not uncommon when initial vaccine rollout began. However, as Borrell mentions, an increase in vaccine access and outreach has finally reached the Harlem community. While there were no vaccination sites in West Harlem in early February , there are now 13 in the area. According to Borrell, another contributing factor to Harlem's vaccination delay was the overwhelming hesitancy of individuals to get vaccinated. This hesitancy can be traced back to substantial misinformation—what Borrell calls an "infodemic"—and a pernicious mistrust of the medical institutions providing the vaccines. As a community of color, the wariness of West Harlem's residents stems from a long history of abuse from medical institutions. An example of such abuse that Borrell cites is the unethical Tuskegee Syphilis Study, in which the U.S. Public Health Service experimented on Black men in Alabama from 1932 to 1972 and actively withheld antibiotics that would have saved the lives of the people in the study. "People were afraid," Borrell said. "They thought that this was going to change their DNA, or it was going to do something. In communities of color, there is a history. Especially in the Black community, you have the Tuskegee Study. So people have a level of distrust that is imprinted in the community just because of history." In communities of color such as West Harlem, a long legacy of distrust and inaccessibility has put already marginalized groups at a higher risk during the COVID-19 pandemic. Community-based organizations and campaigns aim to dismantle this mistrust and correct the spread of misinformation about the vaccine. By localizing focus, utilizing frameworks of preexisting trust, and increasing representation, these organizations and campaigns are playing an integral role in getting the community vaccinated. The shift in sources of reliable and trusted information was important in dismantling the politics of distrust that were keeping people from vaccination sites. "People started to believe more in the information coming from their doctors and the community organizations like churches, community centers, the primary providers," Borrell said. "The health department is also doing a good job reaching out to those communities." Lipkin was involved in the "Roll Up Your Sleeves" public education campaign, which featured a variety of experts, celebrities, and citizens urging people to get vaccinated. After the first installation of videos, which featured celebrities such as Matt Damon and Kate Winslet, Lipkin remarked on the importance of localizing the message of vaccination importance. "When I went back to these [celebrities] to ask them to participate in a vaccine update enhancement, they all said to me, 'Why would anyone listen to me? I'm just an actor. Get people who look like the people around you and that'll be more persuasive,'" Lipkin said. "So … we filmed a series of videos over a couple of days. We had doctors, nurses, respiratory therapists, security guards, and a canon of men, women, Black, white, Jewish, and Catholic, try to show that the best way to protect ourselves is to get vaccinated." Lipkin argues that, in the campaign to get Harlem vaccinated, other measures are necessary in addition to community outreach and the spread of accurate information. He describes campaigns such as $100 incentives and government mandates as effective measures in getting the community vaccinated. "I think that's one arrow in our quiver," Lipkin said. "We need to do more than that. Mandates also work. I hate the idea that we have to have carrots and sticks when it's just the right thing to do." Staff writer Claire Hunt can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow them on Twitter @ClaireEHunt1. Founded in 1877, the Columbia Daily Spectator is the independent undergraduate newspaper of Columbia University, serving thousands of readers in Morningside Heights, West Harlem, and beyond. Read more at columbiaspectator.com and donate here.