What minorities need to know about the COVID-19 vaccine

Transcript

Caitlin Whyte: Now that a COVID-19 vaccine is available, we have reached a key point that could help end the pandemic. But there has been concern, especially among minorities, that the vaccine is not safe. Minority communities are asking questions. Well, Dr. Jaqui Jones is a family medicine physician at Prisma Health and is here to help address these concerns and offer advice.

This is Insight Health, a podcast brought to you by Prisma Health. I’m Caitlin Whyte. So Dr. Jones, should minority community members be skeptical of the COVID-19 vaccine?

Dr. Jaqui Jones: The COVID-19 vaccine, the research shows that the vaccine is pretty safe. And so we’ve been encouraging minorities to be inquisitive and concerned and want their questions answered, but not skeptical to the point that they don’t want to take the vaccine because the profiles today have been very safe. And even as we continue to roll it out into the community, the responses that we’ve been getting have been that overall it’s a very safe profile and a good vaccine to get.

Caitlin Whyte: Is there a medical mistrust among minorities? And how is that impacting receiving the vaccine?

Dr. Jaqui Jones: Well, yes, there is lots of medical mistrust among minorities. This comes from historical events, a history that has really taught minorities that they have to make sure that their best interests are being met, that their voices are being heard. And we know that that exists in healthcare. We’re trying to answer those questions. We’re trying to make sure that representation exists up and down the healthcare model. And so we know that that is a thing. It impacts the vaccines no differently than it impacts all of our healthcare disparities, where people are just unsure and there’s enough uncertainty for some communities that it slows down people’s participation in keeping them safe and keeping them whole. And it’s an ongoing battle.

It will always be there. It will always require patience and education and time, but I’m hoping that, you know, podcasts like this, you know, community events, speaking engagements, educational one-on-one with patients in our clinic will slowly improve that.

Caitlin Whyte: Now some people believe that the vaccine is too new to be trusted. What would you say in response to that?

Dr. Jaqui Jones: I would say that it feels new, but it’s not. So we’ve all been watching COVID-19 now for a year. I think we’re rolling up on like the one-year anniversary when most people really came to the understanding that COVID-19 was going to impact our daily lives. And with that in a year, it seems like we went from shutting down the country to now we have this vaccine and let’s roll it out.

The COVID-19 vaccine is built on a model of years of research. So the mRNA vector that we’re using for like Pfizer and Moderna, studies have been going on about using that kind of technology since the 1990s. So this is not new technology.

What we’re seeing is an opportunity when an international community comes together, where you got funding, you’ve got the best and brightest brains, and they’re using years, some 30 years of research, in trying to find vaccinations for viruses like HIV and other viruses that are often hard to create a cure for. All that information is coming together to present what is now Pfizer and Moderna’s MRN a vaccine. And as you see, Johnson and Johnson just recently put out a vaccine. And so this has been a culmination of lots of hard work over many years. It just feels new.

Caitlin Whyte: So tell us, have you received your COVID-19 vaccine? I mean, what was your experience like? How are you feeling?

Dr. Jaqui Jones: I have received both vaccines. I think I got my first one New Year’s Eve, I want to say.

Caitlin Whyte: Oh, how exciting!

Dr. Jaqui Jones: I know, right? So celebration of the new year. And then I got my second one exactly 21 days afterwards. I had no symptoms. Now, I know that a lot of people have like really increased reactions, fatigue, fever, soreness of the arm, but especially on the second dose. I was completely ready. I canceled all my workouts for the week. I was ready to lay in the bed and rest. It did not happen. Outside of a sore arm, that was all I had. So I had to go back to working out at home and get back to my regular routine because I really did feel fine, but I was prepared to, you know, take it all in.

I did not have any symptoms. I know that some people do have some symptoms. It seems like they last anywhere from 24 to 36 hours. But overall, tolerated well in many cases now,

Caitlin Whyte: Now, what conversations are you having with your patients about the vaccine? Are there any common questions they have or concerns?

Dr. Jaqui Jones: Yes, I’m getting a lot of, “Okay, Dr. Jones. Should I take it?” And so my answer to that is yes. They are asking the same questions that you are. “It seems so new. How do I know if I can trust it?” “Do you think they’re giving me something different than they’re giving someone else?”

So, you know, as a doctor of color, I take care of a lot of faces that look like me, black and brown, you know, all colors, all cultures. And so they want to know, “Am I going to be used in some way to test out a vaccine before something comes?” And so we’re having these conversations and I am walking them through the process. I’m walking them through my personal process. I am letting them know what to expect, letting them know that there’s no difference and, you know, what your injection looks like with someone else’s and really trying to use information, load them as much as possible, so they feel overall comfortable with it. And we’re having all those conversations.

“Am I going to get sick? Can I take ibuprofen before my second dose? What about Tylenol? I heard that, you know, Tylenol is going to mean that I don’t have a good reaction. Is it okay to take? What if I don’t feel well?” We are going through the list of all those things. And most people are now coming back to say, “Hey, I’m vaccinated. I got my vaccine. Everything went well.” And I’m hoping that that experience where they ask other questions, they were a little nervous, they went and did it and they go back and tell their families about their experience will encourage other people to say, “I was a little concerned, but I did it anyway, and everything worked out and I feel fine.”

Caitlin Whyte: How about your patients who have had COVID-19? Are they having any of those long hauler side effects we’ve been hearing about in the news?

Dr. Jaqui Jones: Absolutely. So I have been saying that I think that at some point, this is going to become the focus, the center of what we think of for COVID-19. I have patients that have been placed on oxygen. I have patients that are still coughing. I have patients that are still suffering from memory loss. I have patients that still have chronic fatigue syndrome, different kind of aches and pains. And the only thing that they have now that they did not have before is COVID-19 infection, well, infection from the virus that causes COVID-19 and it’s impacting my patients.

I have a broad range, but I still take care of a lot of young people who are still in the workforce, who still need to work and we’re trying to figure out how long will this last. “Will I get back to normal? Because I’m finding getting to work hard” Or “I’m finding after work, getting home to interact with my family, take care of my kids, I’m exhausted,” or, you know, “I’m coughing everywhere. You know, nobody wants you out in public now if you’re coughing consistently, and it’s hard to tell people like I had COVID three months ago and I’m just coughing, but don’t worry about it.” And so it’s impacting how you interact with yourself, your community, your family, your friends, and there aren’t any good answers for patients.

You know, I’m trying to tell people that, you know, the hard answer is when people suffer long-term from COVID, we do not yet have a, you know, consensus on if we do these therapies, if we follow these steps, you will get better. We are learning real time. And in some cases, we are not finding that we can always make you whole and bring you back to your old baseline. And that’s concerning when we’re thinking about people who need to reenter the workforce or need to take care of themselves and their families.

Caitlin Whyte: Well, wrapping up here, are there any other final thoughts you have for the minority community, your community at large on the importance of getting the vaccine no matter which one it is?

Dr. Jaqui Jones: I think that I want people to find a way to be both inquisitive, have some concern, even some skepticism and still be thinking, “I am moving towards trying to figure out how to get all the information I need so that I’m prepared for vaccination” versus “I’m trying to get all the information I need to say whether I am yes or no.” It’s a personal choice, you know. We cannot force anyone. We don’t want to force anyone. It’s completely an individual decision.

But I want people to think about it’s really not if you are exposed, it’s really when you’re exposed to COVID-19 and, “How do I protect myself and my family and how do I keep everyone around me safe? Is there anything that I can do that keeps them as safe as possible?” Currently, I think right now, you know, social distancing and mask wearing are still in full effect. And I think those things work well, but having the opportunity to get vaccinated so that you prevent disease and prevent spread is a really good opportunity in minority communities.

We are seeing high rates of, you know, injury. You know, we’re talking about long-term effects to COVID-19. A lot of my black and brown patients, they work in service industries. You know, they are your workers. They’re the people who move your garbage. They clean your hospitals. They clean your schools. They run your bus systems. They work in your factories. They do all these things and they can’t work if they are short of breath, they can’t work if they have chronic pain, you know, they can’t work if their memory is bad. And so people who use their bodies to function, to feed their families are people who look like me in many cases. And I want them to protect themselves as best as possible.

So any way we can get the information out, any question that we can answer, we’re more than happy to do it because their safety is my concern and their long-term ability to function in the world as they see fit is what we’re after.

Caitlin Whyte: Oh, my gosh. Well, Dr. Jones, thank you so much for sharing this critical information with us. I’m so glad you have your vaccine, and hopefully we get even more people to get theirs after hearing this. That was Dr. Jaqui Jones, a family medicine physician at Prisma Health. For more information, head on over to PrismaHealth.org/Coronavirus.

This has been Inside Health, a podcast brought to you by Prisma Health. I’m Caitlyn Whyte. Stay well.