After six weeks of relying on a ventilator to breathe during his difficult bout with COVID-19, Eddie White urges other Black Chicagoans to take the virus seriously.

Video by Daniel Corral and Eric Cox

Eddie White helps run the Sankofa Cultural Arts Center, a nonprofit dedicated to uplifting Black culture. The center is located in Chicago’s South Austin neighborhood, an underserved, predominantly-Black community with one of the lowest COVID-19 vaccination rates citywide. Last year, White tested positive for the coronavirus. The 63-year-old spent six weeks in the hospital hooked up to a ventilator to help him breathe. The outlook was bleak, but White eventually recovered, although he says several health complications still affect him today. Now, he’s calling on other Black Chicagoans to consider both their own wellbeing as well as what’s best for their loved ones when deciding whether to get vaccinated against COVID-19.

See more City Bureau vaccine coverage here.


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