In the UK black people are four times more likely to die from Covid-19 than white people yet research has shown that up to 72% of black people were unlikely or very unlikely to get the Covid-19 vaccine. Similarly, in the US black Americans are twice as likely to die from the virus however black Americans are receiving the Covid-19 vaccines at lower rates than their white counterparts. Why is this and what can be done to change this? 

Recently, lots of new evidence has surfaced about the black community both in the UK and the US being less likely to take up the offer of the COVID-19 vaccine however there is little explanation as to why this is happening and where the black community’s mistrust lies. 

The continent of Africa has a particular sinister history of unethical medical experimentation by Western medics. During a huge meningitis outbreak in Kano State in Nigeria in 1996 the US pharmaceutical giant Pfizer decided to conduct clinical trials to test a drug it was developing. 200 children were used in the trial in which Pfizer failed to obtain informed consent from the parents of the children. Sadly, 11 of the children in the trial died and many were left brain damaged and paralysed . US-based Pfizer had argued that meningitis and not it's antibiotic had led to the deaths of 11 children and harm to many of the others. It was not until 2009 that Pfizer reached an out- of-court settlement agreeing to pay $75 million to the Kano State government and $175,000 to the parents of four of the children who had died during the outbreak and clinical trials. 

Historically, black people have been mistreated and exploited by medical professionals. For example, in the case of Henrietta Lacks, a black woman who died from an aggressive form of cervical cancer in 1951. Whilst undergoing treatment, in one of few hospitals that provided healthcare to black people at that time, samples of her cancerous cell tissue were taken and  given to cell biologist George Gey without her knowledge or consent. It was later found that her cells (now known as HeLa cells)  could grow and divide endlessly in a laboratory rendering them ‘immortal.’ These HeLa cells have been used extensively over the years in scientific research without her family’s consent  and have led to many profitable discoveries. For example, in cancer biology, modern vaccines and fundamental microbiology etc. Yet the Lacks family have received no financial reimbursement. In fact, they weren’t acknowledged by National Institutes of Health until 2012. To this day HeLa cells are the most widely used human cell line in existence!

Unfortunately, racial disparities within the healthcare system are  very much prevalent today. In the UK, black women are four times more likely to die in pregnancy or childbirth than white women. In addition, according to a study published by the Proceeding of the National Academy of Studies, in the US black babies are more likely to survive childbirth if they are cared for by black doctors but three times more likely than white babies to die when looked after by white doctors. With such ongoing and blatant racial inequality it is no wonder there is a lack of trust between some members of the black community and healthcare.

While statistics do show that black people in the UK and the US are less likely to receive the COVID-19 vaccine it should be mentioned that a number of people from the black community either have been vaccinated or wish to do so. When speaking about the ‘black community’ it must be acknowledged that black people aren’t one homogenous group. We are not all the same and it must be recognised that vaccine hesitancy is not solely influenced by our race ; there are other factors to consider such as: age, gender and religion.

I interviewed my mother on her thoughts about the hesitancy that surrounds the Covid-19 vaccine amongst some members of the black community.

Are you surprised that, according to a study, black people over the age of 80 were half as likely as their white counterparts to have been vaccinated?

I am not surprised given the lack of trust due to past medical trials in which we were used as guinea pigs in medical experiments without our total consent or understanding. However, contrary to certain media reports, a vast number of people from the black community have taken up the offer of the vaccine and not all of us should be tarred with the same brush simply because we are black.

What more do you think could be done to improve the black community’s  trust in the vaccine ?

Rather than black people just being written off as anti-vaxxers I think there needs to be continuous communication between the said community and medics to improve education, awareness and confidence surrounding the vaccine. Moreover, there needs to be recognition of historical mistreatment of black people in vaccine and medical trials e.g the forced sterilization tests conducted on Herero women in Namibia in the early 1900’s by Eugen Fischer.


 

It is clear that the first step in building back trust of the black community is for scientists and medical professionals in the western world to acknowledge the mistreatment of black people in the past for scientific advancements that we continue to benefit and profit from today. Moreover, there needs to be more widespread education on the unethical and racist practises of medical research in the past . Hopefully, by understanding the insidious and racist origins of some medical experimentation and research practices,  scientists and researchers can go forward and close the racial disparities which are so sadly rife in healthcare today.