Thread by @AbraarKaran

1/ Important article here from @SciFleur- when a #covid19 vaccine is approved, we must prioritize our most vulnerable communities; our frontline workers of color among those

Yet, we have an ugly medical history of using vulnerable groups as "guinea pigs"

statnews.com/2020/11/09/hea…

2/ Furthermore, as @LawrenceGostin mentions in this piece, there may be regulatory/legal roadblocks if the vaccine is prioritized in certain ways.

The messier this process becomes, the more trust will be lost among those looking to get vaccinated.

3/ In this @statnews poll from October- only 58% of surveyed Americans said they would get a vaccine as soon as available.

Analyzed by race, only 43% of Black participants would v 59% of White participants.

statnews.com/pharmalot/2020…

4/ We know that racism has killed during this pandemic, all over the world, & especially true here in America.

We know that our medical history is a racist history; it has benefited off the exploitation of Black, Latinx, Native American & other peoples of color

5/ We know that our vulnerable frontline workers are most in need of protection; & that hesitancy to get vaccinated is not a simple reflection of "personal choice" or "vaccine mistrust"-- in this case, I think it is a manifestation of a racist past + present in medicine overall

6/ That trust re-building & support is going to be a process that needs to be attended to *before* a vaccine is ready to go (aka now), so that when in fact it is, we are prepared for an equitable deployment, particularly where it is most needed.

#covid19

cc thread @HelenBranswell @matthewherper @rickberke @ReganHMarsh @RanuDhillon @drdavidwalton @gregggonsalves @BhadeliaMD @syramadad @rajpanjabi @klgthomas