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Feb. 12-Feb. 18, 2021
Elmhurst Hospital doctor urges African American
community to place trust in COVID-19 vaccines
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
During Black History
Month, Dr. Phillip Fairweather,
the associate director of
Emergency Medicine at NYC
Health+Hospitals/ Elmhurst,
is raising awareness about the
COVID-19 vaccination and how
it can benefit the African American
community that has been
disproportionately impacted by
the virus.
On Feb. 18, Fairweather will
be joined by three medical experts
for an informative virtual
dialogue on the myths and facts
about the Pfizer and Moderna
vaccines, and why it’s important
for the Black community to
get involved.
“It’s an essential element of
our being able to get through this
pandemic. It is really our best
hope at the moment to stop the
surge and prevent more deaths
and illness,” Fairweather said.
“The vaccinations are an opportunity
that a lot of people in
our community have not really
taken great advantage of.”
There are several myths
that have been circulating on
social media about the Pfizer
and Moderna mRNA vaccines,
according to Fairweather,
which is a new type of vaccine
to protect against infectious
diseases. One of those myths
is that if a person gets the shot,
they will contract the coronavirus,
which is false, Fairweather
said. Another common myth
falsely claims that the mRNA
vaccines against the virus can
change a person’s DNA.
There’s even more concern
about the past mistreatment of
Black males during the Tuskegee
experiment, an observational
study conducted in Tuskegee,
Alabama, between 1932 and
1972. The U.S. Public Health
Service ran this study on more
than 300 people without notifying
the participants about their
disease nor treating them even
after the introduction of penicillin.
Fairweather also noted past
experiences that may have happened
to a family member or
specific events related to healthcare
that may result in the community
to be skeptical about the
vaccines.
“I know there’s a great deal
of hesitancy to think that we
might be exposing ourselves or
putting ourselves at risk again
in that context,” Fairweather
said. “I wish I could talk to everyone
one on one, but in more
efficient ways, doing it through
the media I hope will help them
understand what is true and
false and that this vaccine is effective.”
In order to build trust in the
community, Fairweather hopes
Dr. Phillip Fairweather hopes that Black leaders and medical
professionals will continue to disseminate information
encouraging vaccine acceptance.
Photo via NYC Health+Hospital/Elmhurst
that Black leaders and Black
medical professionals will continue
to disseminate information
via social media and TV to
encourage vaccine acceptance.
In reality, Fairweather said,
the white population is more
willing to get vaccinated than
the Black population. Fairweather
added that Black people
have various health issues such
as diabetes, obesity, high blood
pressure and hypertension that
put them at a higher risk.
“We have far less access to
healthcare and are hospitalized
more often when we get sick and
there’s a high death rate,” said
Fairweather, who works in the
emergency department and has
seen the consequences of inadequate
healthcare. “We would
stand to benefit hugely by being
in front of the line when our
turn comes to be vaccinated.”
Having done his own research
about the vaccines, Fairweather
said he didn’t hesitate
to get both doses of the Pfizer
vaccine that were first distributed
to frontline workers.
“I was lucky I didn’t have any
side effects, and there are mild
side effects such as low fever
and body aches,” Fairweather
said. “But it’s really important
for people to understand that
those side effects are predictable,
and that it’s not literally
more than a day or two.”
While the past year has
been traumatizing for Fairweather,
especially in March,
going through the first surge of
COVID and witnessing the unbelievably
destructive disease
that caused so many deaths and
suffering, he says he’s blessed
and fortunate.
Fairweather, who has
worked at Elmhurst Hospital
for 25 years, said he is very honored
to be a part of a family of
healthcare professionals that
bring their best to work every
day.
Vol. 9, No. 7 32 total pages
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