Black Minnesotans Suffer Disproportionately From COVID, But Many Hesitant To Get The Vaccine
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- The COVID-19 pandemic continues to hit communities of color the hardest, particularly the Black community, which has extremely low vaccination figures and disproportionately high hospitalization rates.
There are a number of reasons people in the Black community are hesitant to get the vaccine, even as cases are surging with the spread of the Delta variant. The reasons include suspicion of government, the history of experiments performed on Black people in the United States, and misinformation about the vaccine.
Many in the community have chosen not to get the shots, and the numbers associated with that choice are alarming to Minnesota health officials. According to state statistics, Black Minnesotans make up about 7% of the state's total population but account for 9% of COVID-19 cases and 12% of hospitalizations and ICU stays.
Shirlyn McNeil LaChappelle, a nurse practitioner, hopes these numbers can serve as a wake up call, as she has been working nonstop trying to educate her community about the vaccine and the importance of getting it.
"Do you know that it's killing people?" she said. "Do you know that it's coming back again, and that this variant is...more infectious than the previous one?"
LaChappelle noted that Minnesotans can now get a $100 reward for getting vaccinated. She hopes that this incentive nudges those unvaccinated in the Black community to get the shot. She also believes a federal education campaign involving barbershops and beauty salons will help inform the community.
In the Black community almost no one is trusted more than your barber. That's why 14 different barber shops and salons in the Black community are tasked with educating people about the vaccine and making it available if they decide to get it.
"We are right here in the neighborhood. People can walk out their doors and come a few blocks and come right here, and we're trusted messengers. People believe in what we do and what we have to say," Teto Wilson, of Wilson's Image Barbers and Stylists, said. "Access, proximity and trust."
Wilson's Image Barber and Stylists in North Minneapolis is taking part in the federal education program to talk with customers about the importance of vaccination.
Wilson says he's heard it all when it comes to reasons why not to take the shot.
"'The vaccine is not fully approved' one. People keep talking about the Tuskegee Experiment and how Black people have been treated in health care in this country ... those are about the main things I've been hearing," he said. "Some people's minds have been changed and they come back and get the vaccine."
LaChapelle is also educating anyone who will listen. She believes its the only way to stop the disproportionate rate at which Blacks are admitted to the hospital and ICU because of the virus. She believes many in the Black community may have to pay the ultimate price before coming to terms with what's real and what's not.
"I don't want you to be responsible for bringing the virus back to a loved one or someone who is more prone to catching it," she said. "It's not real until it hits home. As long as it doesn't touch you, it's not real."
According to the latest vaccine statistics, only 50% of eligible Black Minnesotans have received at least one vaccine shot, a figure below the percentages for white (64%), Hispanic (57%) and Asian Minnesotans (73%).