What African American and Latino Communities’ Reluctance to Get the COVID-19 Vaccine Reveals about America’s History

by Ellen Chang

With COVID-19’s detrimental impact on global health and economy, scientists and health officials continue to work profusely to find and develop a vaccine in record time. As of today, two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have received FDA approval for widespread usage of their vaccines. Using mRNA technology, both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines equip the immune system to fight against the virus by injecting individuals with mRNA, a genetic code of a portion of the virus. Despite the FDA’s approval, many Americans are still skeptical to receive it. Specifically, Latinos and African Americans, who are disproportionately affected by the virus, are concerned about the vaccine’s safety and efficacy as a result of historical mistreatment and underrepresentation in clinical trials. 

In order to return to “normal” society, 50-90% of the population must become immune to the disease, a statistic that is only made possible by distributing vaccines to as many individuals as possible. At the forefront of the vaccine distribution queue are frontline health care workers, essential workers, the elderly community, and individuals with certain underlying medical conditions. But, as African American and Latino communities have experienced higher rates of illness and deaths from the virus, some public health officials are advocating to prioritize these communities as well. However, these racial minorities are wary of being among the first people to get the vaccine,and rightfully so.

In 2020, as the nation reflected on racial injustices following the Black Lives Matter Movement, the topic of racially-biased healthcare inequalities was finally brought into the spotlight of mainstream media. While many factors contribute to minority mistrust in the health care system, perhaps the most shocking is the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. In the 1930s, following a nationwide syphilis outbreak, the US Public Health Service (USPHS) unethically researched the effects of Syphilis. With the promise of free healthcare, the USPHS convinced 600 African American men to join a 6-month study that avalanched into a 40-year massacre. As the researchers refused their subjects proper diagnosis or treatment, even after scientists had already discovered penicillin as an effective treatment, many of the patients, along with their family members, passed away. As a response to the Tuskegee trials’ unethical and wicked practices, the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects in Biomedical and Behavioral Research published the Belmont Report in 1979 to ensure proper care for test subjects. However, the Tuskegee Study continues to reproduce generational trauma among African American communities who fear being exploited and harmed. 

A survey conducted by Langer Research Associates in collaboration with Unidos US, the NAACP, and Covid Collaborative highlighted Latino and African American insecurities in the vaccine. The research shows that only 14% of African Americans and 34% of Latino Americans “completely trust that a vaccine will be safe,” 18% of African Americans and 40% of Latino Amricans “mostly or completely trust that a vaccine will be effective,” and 28% of African Americans and 47% of Latino Americans “are confident that a vaccine will be tested specifically for safety in their racial/ethnic group.” These statistics prove that biomedical and public health communities have a long way to go in fostering transparency and trust among groups who have faced historical violence and mistreatment in healthcare settings.

While the nation still grapples with gross healthcare inequalities, Pfizer and Moderna have both confirmed that their trials included race and ethnicity considerations, along with age and gender. In order to allow African American and Latino communities to feel comfortable taking the vaccine, voices have advocated for a “national public health campaign” where trusted figures in African American and Latino communities will collaborate with the CDC and African American and Latino healthcare officials. Of course, to fully regain minorities’ trust in the US healthcare system, medical researchers must continue to diligently design studies that include these underrepresented communities, respect autonomy, and work to build relationships with those who have been systematically left out.