8 THE QUEENS COURIER • FEBRUARY 11, 2021 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Elmhurst hospital doctor urges African Americans to trust
COVID-19 vaccine and how it can benefi t the community
BY CARLOTTA MOHAMED
cmohamed@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
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 benefi t 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 Pfi zer 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. “Th e vaccinations
are an opportunity that a lot of people
in our community have not really taken
great advantage of.”
Th ere are several myths that have been
circulating on social media about the
Pfi zer 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.
Th ere’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. Th e
U.S. Public Health Service ran this study
on more than 300 people without notifying
the participants about their disease
nor treating them even aft er the introduction
of penicillin.
Fairweather also noted past experiences
that may have happened to a family member
or specifi c 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 effi cient ways, doing it through the
media I hope will help them understand
what is true and false and that this vaccine
In order to build trust in the community, Dr. Phillip Fairweather, associate director of Emergency Medicine at NYC Health Hospitals/ Elmhurst, hopes that
Black leaders and medical professionals will continue to disseminate information via social media and TV to encourage vaccine acceptance.
is eff ective.”
In order to build trust in the community,
Fairweather hopes 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 oft en 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 benefi t 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 Pfi zer vaccine
that were fi rst distributed to frontline
workers.
“I was lucky I didn’t have any side
eff ects, and there are mild side eff ects such
as low fever and body aches,” Fairweather
said. “But it’s really important for people
to understand that those side eff ects 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 fi rst surge of COVID
and witnessing the unbelievably destructive
disease that caused so many deaths
Photo via NYC Health Hospital/Elmhurst
and suff ering, he says he’s blessed and fortunate.
“My colleagues and I have become so
much closer because we shared this horrible
experience. It was hard to believe that
there was a light at the end of the tunnel to
beat this virus,” Fairweather said.
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.
“What we witnessed a year ago is a lifechanging
experience,” Fairweather said. “I
wouldn’t want this to ever happen again.
Th e hospital has made an eff ort to provide
care to every single person, and we’ll continue
to do that. Th is hospital has done a
tremendous job of taking care of patients
and providing resources.”
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