Howard Brown Health put together a panel of Englewood community leaders to combat COVID-19 vaccine misinformation.

By Daniela Jaime and Jonathan Wilson

As Chicago deals with the Omicron variant and communities like Englewood face some of the lowest vaccination rates in the city, Howard Brown Health hosted Vax Chat: Black Voices last month, a town hall panel addressing the layers of mistrust toward the medical field.

Hosted by Art “Chat Daddy” Williams, the panel consisted of medical experts such as Dr. Cordia Clark-White of Women's Progressive Health, Dr. Brittany James of IMAN Central Chicago, Dr. Michelle Meeks of Anthem, and Howard Brown Health’s own Dr. Brandi Jackson, who each discussed their experiences as health care providers during the pandemic. The Vax Chat also aimed to tackle issues regarding mental health and media, inviting Marsha Eaglin, CEO of IMPACT Family Center; Jamar Neely, youth counselor at IMPACT; and City Bureau’s own reporting fellow, Eric Cox. Together they addressed some of the many layers making it difficult to address health crises in Englewood. Here are the four key themes from last week’s event. 

Medical Mistrust

One of the central themes during this panel was the deep lack of faith in the healthcare system. From the Tuskegee experiment to forced sterilizations to being perceived to have higher tolerances for pain, Black Americans have many reasons to distrust healthcare in America. A national poll conducted by The Undefeated and the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) in October 2020 found that 7 in 10 African Americans believe that people are treated unfairly based on race or ethnicity when they seek medical care. This study was done before the vaccine rollout, but the message is clear: the relationship is fractured.

“We can talk about the conspiracy theories, the things that people find on the internet that scare them, but what I hear is fear,” James said. “It comes down to the simple fact that the healthcare system is not a trustworthy system. We have not been a trustworthy system for Black people, for brown people, for immigrants, for LGBT+—we have to own that. It's been very interesting to see how that mistrust is playing out again.”

Another big concern local physicians have is that pregnant women may not be up to date on vaccination protocols, or may still fear the vaccine out of protection for their baby.

“Probably about 15 to 20 percent of my patients are not vaccinated. A large part of my practice is pregnant patients, so they're very concerned about the effects to the fetus,” Clark-White said. “Initially it was no vaccination in the first trimester and then that changed, so it’s just very hard to grasp.”

Overall, the communities’ lack of trust in their medical systems stems from a lack of trust in authority figures. The majority of the panelists reported hearing multiple reasons as to why some community members would rather skip out on the vaccine or wait longer. 

“I try to tell [patients], ‘Look, I’m a Black woman first,’” James said. “But there's still this perception of anybody connected to the medical industry, [that] we’re getting kickbacks from the vaccine. Trust me, we don’t get one red cent.”

Media Overload and Fatigue

After 22 months of the pandemic, many people's panic has turned into fatigue due to constant reporting on the topic, daily updates and still more variants of the virus.

“There’s so much news coming out that people get turned off to the real news that they really need. Then when you get on Facebook [or on Instagram] there's also ads,” Eaglin said. ''So we have this bombardment of information that causes people to just turn everything off, and they're not considering the serious nature of something like this.”

Misinformation on social media has severely impacted how people weigh the decision to get vaccinated. 

“Earlier we talked about how young people feel invincible. We might feel invincible, but we’re not,” Cox said. “We have police killing us disproportionately, sometimes killing ourselves, and you also have this pandemic which is laying bare these issues hidden under America for some time. There’s health inequities we’re seeing on the Southwest Side. Unfortunately it's all being exacerbated because we're not trusting the right sources and going to get what's essentially a readily available vaccine.”

Eaglin also explained the sensation of being overwhelmed due to constant anxiety and grief from losing loved ones, with the brunt of that grief falling on youth.

“I'm tired of my young people telling me more and more about their relatives who are dying, on ventilators. At some point we have to weigh it out and decide what to do when our youth [are influenced by anti-vaxxers],” Eaglin said, reflecting on the comments of local children and teens involved in IMPACT’s journalism programs. “I think it is the role of the journalist to be beating the drum in a way in which the community can come together and respond positively.”

A Toll on Mental Health

Living in a pandemic has become the new normal for everyone. As we have adjusted to this new way of life, there have been serious impacts on mental health. Depression has affected many, from workers on the front line to students getting used to sitting in classrooms again.

“We have to understand there's a lot of different mental illnesses other than ADHD or something like that,” said Jamar Neely, youth counselor at IMPACT Family Center, noting that access to mental health resources have been limited for the Black community during the pandemic. “A lot of our children have been misdiagnosed to start off with. So, the majority of our children are in a tough spot because they have to listen to the elders' urban legend about this thing, they hear things and are left to draw their own conclusions.”

Neely also highlighted how, when it comes to Englewood youth, there’s a childlike naivete that’s the hardest wall to break through without falling prey to fear-mongering.

 “A lot of our children don't know about Tuskegee,” Neely said. “When they hear [conspiracy theories] they think, ‘I'm young,’ ‘I'm strong,’ ‘I’m invincible.’ You got to cut through that to let them know we are doing everything we can to preserve your life, because you guys are our future. It's hard to tell them that when they step outside the door, if it's not a virus then it's a gunshot, then it’s the police. It's like a cesspool that they're drowning in and I have to cut through that.”

Neely adds that depression has been a big concern for some, due to being at home with their families for such long periods of time.

Employers Are Asked to Reconsider Livable Wages

Labor trends these past two years have seen twists and turns. Initially the pandemic brought mass layoffs and added pressure to workers, especially in the service industry. As companies that made it through 2020 began to rebound, without alleviating the stressors of the pandemic on workers, many began to quit their jobs. This year has ushered in what many have called the The Great Resignation, resulting in a labor shortage in a number of workplaces such as schools, hospitals and restaurants, leading some businesses to shorten hours. While there is higher job availability at the moment, many seeking employment are concerned with wages and working conditions. 

“To put it bluntly,” Cox said, “there's a lot of jobs available, but not a lot of quality jobs available—jobs that earn you a decent living wage.”

Main Takeaways

Communities like Englewood have long struggled for adequate resources and against stigmas applied by local politicians. COVID-19 has exacerbated the disconnect between Black Americans, healthcare and the media. Black healthcare and social service providers have been going above and beyond on the front lines during the pandemic—running vaccination sites, administering the vaccine and giving youth the tools to process their traumas. Hearing their stories of perseverance, despite the daunting task of increasing vaccination rates, is crucial to defeating the virus. 

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