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Virtual town hall addresses vaccine rumors in the black community

The Center for Closing the Health Gap hosted the virtual town hall
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Posted at 4:25 PM, Feb 28, 2021
and last updated 2021-02-28 16:32:16-05

CINCINNATI — The Center for Closing the Health Gap held a virtual town hall with Black Men in Medicine Cincinnati to discuss questions about the COVID-19 vaccine from the Black community.

The panel featured six local Black male doctors: Dr. Lester Duplechan, Dr. Basil Williams, Dr. Michael Thomas, Dr. Conrad Cole, Dr. Dr. Clyde Henderson and Dr. Alvin Crawford.

Topics such as misconceptions, concerns about the vaccine and how to find a doctor were all addressed. A big point the doctors pressed was to trust the vaccine. The doctors brought up previous events such as the Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis for reasons why some people in the Black community have trust issues with vaccines.

All six doctors have received the COVID-19 vaccination and Dr. Michael Thomas is participating in a vaccine trial.

Across the nation, more than 500,000 people have died from COVID-19. Minority communities have been hit the hardest.

“I don’t think we have the ability to sit back and wait to see what the side effects may be because the side effects so far are not death. They don’t seem to be the disability or impairment that people are having who are even surviving with COVID,” said Dr. Duplechan.

In Hamilton County, 6.9% of people vaccinated are Black.

The Center for Closing the Health Gap has bi-weekly virtual town hall on various topics concerning minorities. For more information on upcoming events, visit https://covid19communityresources.com/town-hall/