To Take or Not to Take the Vaccine?

To Take or Not to Take?

Clergy Leaders Advocate for Coronavirus Vaccine

BY AUSTIN FENNER

Rev. Calvin Butts took a shot in the arm for the community. The Harlem pastor rolled up his sleeve and a nurse injected him with the coronavirus vaccine. The serum will inoculate his immune system and protect his body from the invisible, killer virus projected to claim over 500,000 American lives by March 1, 2021. “I took the injection. We want to save lives,” Butts told The Positive Community. “The first line of defense in the Black community against any crisis is the Black Church.”

The first signs of people falling ill to the contagion emerged just over one year ago in January 2020. The virus, also known as COVID-19, has ravaged Black and Brown communities in the New York metropolitan region. Butts’ Abyssinian Baptist Church spearheads an effort with Rev. Al Sharpton to create 50 pop-up vaccine stations in five cities to get people vaccinated against the deadly virus — New York; Newark; Baltimore; Washington, DC; and Detroit. Ten churches in each city will host a pop-up vaccine station. More than 500 people recently received the vaccinations at the venerated Harlem church.

“We are advocating for people to take the vaccine,” said Butts. “We are advocating people get tested.”

The Black Church had to unveil the old playbook for fighting AIDS to combat the global pandemic caused by the coronavirus. “We had a major virus claiming lives. It was AIDS,” Butts said, reflecting on that dark period of American life.

He explained that more than 30 years ago a colleague named Deborah Frazier Howze organized a coalition called “Choose A Healthy Life.” The name comes from Deuteronomy 30:19, which says, “I’ve sat before Heaven and Earth... choose life so you and your seed may live.” “We are advocating for people to take the vaccine,” said Butts. “We are advocating people get tested.”

Choose A Healthy Life led to the formation of the National Black Leadership Commission on AIDS. That framework is now in use to combat the coronavirus. “We changed attitudes. We stemmed the tide on AIDS,” said Butts. “We took that model to fight COVID. We encourage people to be tested.”

The organization will be adding 16 cities to the popup vaccine program through the Black Church network.

“It’s killing more of us than anybody else,” Butts said. “We are catching fire.” Butts is a member of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Vaccine Equity Task Force. “We were able to convince the governor we need to do more to get the vaccine to the community,” he explained.

Gov. Cuomo spelled out the unmitigated truth about the killer virus when he said Black and Latino communities die at higher rates than the white community. “Take the vaccine. It will save lives and it can save your life,” said Cuomo at a pop-up vaccine station in a Brooklyn public housing development.

Cuomo teamed up with Democratic Brooklyn Congressmembers Hakeem Jeffries and Yvette Clarke to encourage participation. “We will make it accessible, but you need to take it,” the Governor added.

More than 4,200 seniors and eligible New Yorkers received their first vaccine dose at churches and New York City Housing Authority developments at a weekend campaign. Somos Community Care is managing the scheduling process and providing healthcare workers to administer the vaccines.

L–R: Debra Fraser-Howze, Rev. Calvin O. Butts III and Rev. Al Sharpton

The first signs of people falling ill to the contagion emerged just over one year ago in January 2020. The virus, also known as COVID-19, has ravaged Black and Brown communities in the New York metropolitan region. Butts’ Abyssinian Baptist Church spearheads an effort with Rev. Al Sharpton to create 50 pop-up vaccine stations in five cities to get people vaccinated against the deadly virus

“Being able to reach those most in need in the languages they speak and by the family doctors they know is the only way we are going to get the shots in arms necessary to bring long-term health to our communities,” said Somos Vice President Henry Munoz, III. “And it is only through partnerships with Governor Cuomo, Congressman Jeffries, Congresswoman Clark, and officials like them that we have the support and supplies to protect those who need us and to ensure our communities are cared for.”

The second round of vaccines is slated for pop-up clinics in mid-February.

“We are urging everyone to trust science and get vaccinated,” said Jeffries. “COVID-19 can kill you, and we have seen that, particularly with devastating consequences in Black communities, in low income communities, and in traditionally underserved communities.”

Butts said the shameful Tuskegee Syphilis Study conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service in 1932, better known as the Tuskegee Experiment, should make people skeptical of government medical care. During the 40-year Tuskegee Experiment, Black men, mostly sharecroppers, were duped into understanding they were getting free health care. Never correctly treated, they were monitored as human guinea pigs to “study” the effects of the disease. “At the time of the Tuskegee Experiment, we did not have the civic representation. We did not have as many doctors, nurses, and researchers,” Butts asserted. “We have been used as guinea pigs. I understand why Black people are concerned.”

Today we have black doctors, nurses, and researchers who are part of the medical process and encourage the community to understand the science.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) website, the vaccines have been thoroughly vetted and are safe.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted Emergency Use Authorizations (EUA) for two COVID-19 vaccines shown to be safe and effective as determined by data from the manufacturers and findings from large clinical trials.

Dr. Robert Fullilove, an expert in fighting HIV/ AIDS and minority health issues, says everyone, especially Blacks and Latinos, should take the vaccine. “The [pandemic] will not be completely corrected by the vaccine, but the vaccine will slow down its progression,” said Fullilove, a professor who has taught physicians at Columbia University for over three decades. Fullilove, 77, apparently practices what he preaches. He took the vaccine in late January. “Yes, I got the vaccine and I am encouraging others like me to do the same,” he said. A third-generation physician, his grandfather; Robert Fullilove, Sr.; practiced medicine in the Mississippi Delta, treating Spanish flu victims in 1918.

Fighting pandemics is a personal mission for the Fullilove clan. The Columbia professor’s grandmother, Maggie Shaw Fullilove, fell victim to the Spanish Flu pandemic.

Butts touted Black scientist Kizzmekia Corbett, a member of Dr. Anthony Fauci’s team; and Dr. Barney Graham, who helped develop a vaccine with a 94 percent effectiveness rating.

“We have many more trusted voices,” he said. “We have every reason to trust our voices. This [vaccine] can save your life.”

Dr. Robert Fullilove