East St. Louis community partners with Illinois for town hall on COVID vaccine safety

As a leader in southwestern Illinois, Michael Atty understands the doubts some Black people may have in taking the COVID-19 vaccine.

Atty is the executive director of the United Congregations of Metro East, an activist organization dedicated to eliminating systemic challenges in the area. He knows about the history of medical racism and its sentient consequences like the Tuskegee Experiment, in which Black men with syphilis were left untreated. He can recall times in his own life when he’s been mistreated by doctors.

So, when the state’s public health director approached his team on ways to better inform Black communities about the vaccine, he jumped on it.

The result of those conversations is Tuesday’s town hall on COVID-19 vaccines ,which will feature Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health.

The virtual event, titled “Let’s Talk Vaccine”, will start at 6:30 p.m. It’ll be streamed on the United Congregations of Metro East’s Facebook page.

During the town hall, Ezike will address the public’s concerns about the COVID-19 vaccine. She’ll explain the stages of the vaccine, reasons for taking it and answer questions attendees may have about it.

Atty said this event, which is hosted by his organization along with Piasa Palisades Sierra Club, is important for Black communities because he thinks getting information from a trusted source like Ezike, a Black doctor, could be one way to get people to take the vaccine.

“It takes that level of interaction, that level of knowledge,”Atty said. “Someone who could break it down into layman’s terms and from a person that you could trust to do it. Part of it, I think it has to be someone you know who did get the vaccination. I think it’s going to take someone that they trust for them to see it.”

Still, Atty knows that some Black people won’t be persuaded because of the strained relationship between Black communities and the medical field.

“I get it,” said Atty, who plans to get the vaccine. “That distrust is deep rooted. I struggle with myself saying I know I got to get this vaccination, but there’s still something in me that’s warranted with the fact that I don’t trust these folks.”

An unfortunate visit to the dentist still sticks with Atty as he thinks about his own lack of trust in medicine.

“I went in and got a dental procedure, and the man next to me, who was white, got the similar procedure,” Atty said. “The doctor comes in and offers him pain medication and tells me to take some Tylenol. I’m just saying. We get misdiagnosed or underdiagnosed on a regular basis because of implicit bias because it’s real.”

‘I’m scared’

Rollout for the COVID-19 vaccine in the United States is unfolding, as nearly 15 million people have received at least one dose. About 2.4 million people in the country have been fully vaccinated. In the metro-east , 4,390 people have received the vaccine. On Monday, St. Clair County plans to move into the next phase of vaccinations, which will include residents 75 and older.

As of last month, 62% of Black adults in the country reported that they were planning to take the COVID-19 vaccine, according to a survey conducted by the Kaiser Family Foundation. It’s an increase from an earlier poll by the foundation, which found that 50% of Black adults would take the vaccine. However, half of Black adults aren’t confident that the development of the vaccine considers the needs of Black people.

Donald Williams is one of them.

Before stay-at-home orders were issued across the country, Williams and his family were exposed to COVID-19 after attending a small birthday gathering. His mom died from it in April. His sister, brother-in-law and other family members also got it. Williams was hospitalized for it before he recovered in the spring.

Williams, a native of East St. Louis, doesn’t know if he’ll get the vaccine right now, but he said he might eventually. He’s skeptical about its safety.

“There’s never been an epidemic like this to happen since I’ve been alive, personally, so I’m scared,” Williams, 49, said. “I was like running scared and wishing they’d found a vaccine( when I had the virus). Now that they’ve found one, I’m like ‘uh oh, wait a minute that was kind of quick’. Now, I’m worried about the side effects because I’m at high risk. I have a failed kidney and am on dialysis. I’m darned if I do and I’m darned if I don’t.”

To protect people against COVID-19, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention is recommending that people take the vaccine, along with socially distancing and wearing masks. Data from the clinical trials of the two COVID-19 vaccines (Pfizer and Moderna) reveal that the potential benefits of the vaccine outweigh the potential harm of contracting the virus, according to the agency.

Common side effects after taking the vaccine listed by the CDC include pain and swelling in the area where the shot was given along with fever and chills throughout the body.

Williams knows that the side effects are a sign of the vaccine’s effectiveness, but he’s still concerned about what the vaccine will do to his body. And his past experiences with doctors haven’t quelled those concerns.

He was diagnosed with kidney disease five years ago, and has had about 11 surgeries for it. He thinks that some of those surgeries were unnecessary.

“When I went to the doctor for hypertension and they treated me for high blood pressure, the medicine attacked my kidneys,” said Williams, who lives in Belleville. “So it seems like we’re used as trial runners because we’re seen as expendable to them.”

However, Williams wants to protect his family from contracting COVID-19.

“If I need to get the vaccine then I’m thinking I should take it,” he said. “But one side I’m scared. I want other people to be the guinea pig first and in about a year, if everybody turns out OK, then I’d get it.”

It’s that fear that makes Mamie Cosey want more information about the vaccine. Cosey, who lives in Sauget, raises her three great grandchildren. Although she didn’t want to share her personal decision on taking the vaccine, she understands why some Black people may be hesitant to take it.

“I feel that in the African-American community, most people have lost confidence and hope in a system that has failed them in the past on every level, really, economically, educationally, environmentally, so sometimes when you haven’t been truthful and upfront and transparent with those things in the system, it has caused you to be reluctant to trust the system,” Cosey, 80, said.

But her main concern is for people to be educated about the vaccine.

“There haven’t been many opportunities for people to ask the right questions or ask any questions,” Cosey said. “It’s like a one-sided system, but when people are informed and when there’s a dialogue, they can have a better view of what it is.”

The legacy of the Tuskegee experiment

Tuesday’s event is the first community outreach effort in the metro-east led by the state to address Black residents’ concerns about the vaccine.

Last month, the federal government announced plans to work with Black churches and historically Black colleges and universities to ensure Black communities are educated about the vaccine. President Biden says he wants to continue that work in his first month in office by ensuring the COVID-19 vaccine is accessible for Black and brown communities.

Linda Joiner is the program manager for East Side Health District, which serves Black-majority populations in the metro-east, including Canteen Township, Centreville Township, East St. Louis Township and Stites Township. She said the district is open to partnering with organizations in the community to better inform residents about the vaccine. Although she’s heard that more people are willing to take the vaccine, she knows that distrust is still there.

“You know, the [Tuskegee Experiment] was done on Black men for the most part who had syphilis and they were promised to be part of a study to look for a cure,” Joiner said. “Then, I was just reading about Henrietta Lacks. She died of cervical cancer. Her living relatives and her children, they still have trouble getting access to medical care. She was 31 years old. They took her cells and didn’t say anything. Long story short, it has prompted more regulation.”

“These are two true examples of why the Black community is fueled with such skepticism because they know this has happened under the guise of the federal government, so it has just left a bad taste in our mouths.”

In 1932, the U.S. Public Health Service started the Tuskegee experiment to study the progression of syphilis, which was nearly unknown at the time. The study included 600 Black men from Alabama, 301 of whom had syphilis (others were used as a control group), and researchers urged local doctors to not treat the subjects. By the time the study was eventually shut down in 1972, 128 participants passed away from syphilis or related illnesses.

Although the consequences of the Tuskegee experiment and taking the COVID-19 vaccine aren’t the same, the tragic impact of the former ultimately influenced decisions about the latter for some people in the Black community. But the history of mistrust in medicine goes beyond the Tuskegee experiment, says Dr. Ezike, who received her first dose of the COVID vaccine this month.

“There’s a lot of work to be done there, and there’s very valid reasons why that skepticism exists,” Ezike said about the lack of trust during a December press conference. “Public health has not always done right by communities of color. Everyone points to the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment, but that’s just one example. There are many examples where government has done wrong by Black people, specifically, and so there’s a lot of work that’s going to be done.”

“I’ll be working with the Chicago Urban League. I’ll be working with the National Urban League. I’ll be working with churches across the state. We’ll be working with many different groups that have inroads into these communities so that we can give the appropriate information, that we can answer questions, that we can make sure that we can dispel the things that are clear myths and work on the real issues that are still barriers.”

So far, the East Side Health District has published articles related to COVID-19 and the vaccine in the East St. Louis Monitor. Although additional plans to inform residents haven’t been made, Joiner said her team is willing to try everything to get the message out. She said people with questions are free to reach out to the district by calling 618-874-4713.

“I think the more we educate, the more successful we will be in getting them to warm up to something that’s a little bit different,” Joiner said. “If we can adequately educate them, and with our community it starts a lot with faith-based. If the pastor says get out and vote let your vote count, chances are the majority of the congregation is going to try to find a way to get out and vote.”

In God’s hands

In February, Ezike will be a part of another event to inform Black residents in the metro-east about the vaccine. She’ll partner with Macedonia Baptist Church in East St. Louis for a community conversation.

Rev. J. Kevin James Jr., pastor of the church, said he plans to provide as much information as possible to his congregation.

“I think it’s about the evolving of our understanding as believers when it comes to healing and health,” James said. “I think at one point there was this belief that all you have to do is take it to God and pray it away, and I think many in my generation and even older are starting to open up and come to the understanding that God can use a doctor to bring about healing.”

“As a pastor, I’m always pushing things like therapy and following the orders of doctors, but I also believe in God’s healing power through the miraculous. But I think that it’s up to God. God chooses, and while we’re waiting on God to decide, we should still be doing what’s beneficial to our health.”

For Williams, his faith in God is what motivates him. Regardless of his decision to take the vaccine, he knows he’ll be protected by God.

“I don’t believe I’m going to be harmed as long as I have the trust in God and power of God,” said Williams, who attends Power of Change Christian Center in Cahokia. “With this COVID, yea’ I was going through it, but my faith kept me. I got friends that didn’t make it. I had phone calls every other week that a guy or a friend or somebody I went to school with passed away from the COVID. I’m not saying it wasn’t going to be my turn, but I knew God was going to pull me through and he did.”

Atty, who’s a minister at The Antioch Baptist Church in St. Louis, said people relying on God and adhering to the guidance of health officials aren’t mutually exclusive. There’s room for both.

“We all put things in God’s hands, as we should, but God also provides for us to find ways so that we can stay healthy, and to ignore that is also to say that you don’t trust God enough to take the vaccination,” Atty said.

Atty hopes Tuesday’s event will be the start of people in the community sharing accurate information about the vaccine to their friends and family.

“I’m hoping that they get some clarity, and I’m hoping that it would dispel some of the misnomers and some of the fear from folks who are leery and that they can then take that message and take it to their communities and their families and their churches and organizations to get people to take the vaccination,” Atty said.

This story was originally published January 23, 2021 at 6:00 AM.

DeAsia Paige

Belleville News-Democrat

DeAsia Paige joined the Belleville News-Democrat as a Report for America corps member in 2020. She’s a community reporter covering East St. Louis and surrounding areas. DeAsia previously interned with VICE and The Detroit Free Press. She graduated from The University of Kansas in 2020.