Thread by @KristiWhitePhD

I have a few thoughts I'd like to offer about #vaccine acceptance. To my fellow (esp White) clinicians who are asking, "What are your strategies for convincing #BIPOC communities to take the #COVID19 vaccine?" this thread is for us…
1/19

First, I'd suggest that this is an unhelpful question & is racially problematic. It centers the holder of the mistrust as the target of the problem & intervention, not the system & history that caused the mistrust in the first place.

2/19

For more context on appropriately framing the source of the problem (system, history not mistrust), See the following thread from @DrJessIsomMDMPH:

https://twitter.com/DrJessIsomMDMPH/status/1337457394524282881?s=20

3/19

Also, @ADocNamedDani breaks this down very concisely in her insightful question here:

https://twitter.com/ADocNamedDani/status/1339195168264773636?s=20

4/19

Before we get into discussions abt “convincing” historically marginalized communities to "comply," please take some time to read some very important context from the #Black community on this topic. Many options for reading are in the following tweets of this thread.

5/19

Here is a very important perspective piece in @TheLancet from @gradydoctor regarding her experience with participating in a #COVID19 #vaccine trial and how it’s about more than medical mistrust. H/T @UREssien.

thelancet.com/journals/lance…

6/19

Here @DrFNA shares her experience as a participant in a #COVID19 #vaccine trial from her perspective as a Black woman, mother, wife, and physician.

https://twitter.com/DrFNA/status/1337814573341151235?s=20

7/19

Here @ChomiloMD shares his experience as a participant in a #COVID19 #vaccine trial from his perspective as a Black physician & #VaccinesSaveLives advocate.

https://twitter.com/ChomiloMD/status/1338912293724237837?s=20

8/19

Here @ZekeMD shares an important piece he wrote about his perspective as a Black physician in overseeing a #COVID19 #vaccine trial.

https://twitter.com/ZekeMD/status/1336030309742161920?s=20

9/19

Here is an important piece by @EJToxicDoc about the challenges for Black Americans around #COVID19 #vaccine trials:

https://twitter.com/EjToxicdoc/status/1335722958002802692?s=20

10/19

As @UREssien shared, this @NEJM perspective piece the importance of demonstrating trustworthiness before we can expect to be trusted.

nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…

11/19

In the aforementioned @NJEM piece, the authors state
"...we fear that once again the responsibility for addressing the sequelae of centuries of racism is falling on Black people themselves."

12/19

We are perpetuating this by targeting the holders of the mistrust, asking unhelpful questions, & failing to demonstrate our trustworthiness. Our Black colleagues are bearing a greater burden to ensure #COVID19 #VaccineEquity as a result.

13/19

Quite frankly, how can we expect to be trusted when we don't even take care of "our own?" There are severe racial disparities in healthcare both in patient outcomes & in our own house (via lack of representation, inequitable compensation, promotion, & leadership opps).

14/19

So, I would offer that first, we prove that we are trustworthy. Then, we ask a more helpful question such as, "How can I demonstrate my trustworthiness & support my patients in making an informed choice about how they would like to receive their care?"

15/19

This is not the same as organizations posting token photos of Black healthcare workers getting the vaccine, as @AtashaJordan very aptly points out:

https://twitter.com/AtashaJordan/status/1339260372310749190?s=20

16/19

This "tokenizing" among healthcare orgs is very problematic and an appropriation of the incredibly intensive labor that our Black colleagues are giving to #VaccineEquity. We don't get to borrow the labor of others and hold up pictures to take credit for their work.

17/19

It's about embodying a #RadicalHealing approach as the amazing @Wizdomisms beautifully lays out in much of her work. Her recommendations for engaging communities =

- Serve first
- Build together
- Show your work
- See the community as valuable, wise, worthy, NOT victims

18/19

TY to all the people tagged in this thread (& many others) for your incredible work, time, & advocacy. Follow them. Listen to them. Learn from them. Thank them. And please, let's start asking more helpful questions.

#COVID19 #CovidVaccine #VaccineEquity #HealthEquity

19/19