The NAACP New Britain Branch hosted a forum with Dr. Reginald J. Eadie, MD, Co-Chair of the Connecticut Vaccine Advisory Group, to discuss COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Eadie, who is the CEO of Trinity Health of New England, discussed the importance of getting vaccinated during the online forum held on February 4th.
Dr. Peggy Lampkin, who is Chair of the New Britain NAACP’s Health Committee, hosted the forum and lead the discussion with questions for Dr. Eadie.
Saying that January was the deadliest month in the United States because of the coronavirus, Dr. Eadie appealed to people to get vaccinated. He expressed concern that not enough people will be vaccinated soon enough to stay ahead of the new, aggressive strains of COVID-19 that are already in the country.
Answering the question he said he is often asked, when things will return to normal, Dr. Eadie said that it will be when we have achieved “herd immunity” against COVID-19. He said that there are two routes of herd immunity. One way is to wait until enough people get the disease, but, he said, that would mean that many more people would die before herd immunity is achieved.
The other route, Dr. Eadie said, is through vaccinations, underscoring the importance of people getting vaccinated.
Dr. Lampkin asked Dr. Eadie to discuss common myths and misconceptions about the COVID-19 vaccines.
Dr. Eadie said the biggest concern from people has come from just how fast the COVID vaccines have been developed. Historically, he said, vaccines have taken six to ten years to be developed, while multiple coronavirus vaccines are becoming available less than a year after the COVID crisis began.
But, Dr. Eadie said, the reason for this fast development is that these vaccines were developed using the new messenger RNA technology and that no steps were skipped. He said that the new vaccines are just as good as those that would have taken ten years to develop.
Dr. Eadie said that the “microchip” conspiracy theory is something he still hears, as well that the vaccines will affect people’s DNA or cause infertility, which he said are untrue.
The terrible history of the Tuskegee syphilis experiment, Dr. Eadie said, has had an impact on persuading people in communities of color to seek vaccination. As CBS News described the experiment conducted on hundreds of Black men in the majority Black and poor Macon County, Alabama,
For 40 years starting in 1932, medical workers in the segregated South withheld treatment for unsuspecting men infected with a sexually transmitted disease simply so doctors could track the ravages of the horrid illness and dissect their bodies afterward.
Dr. Eadie said that it is important to acknowledge that history as true, when reaching out in the African-American community about the COVID-19 vaccines, but also to point out the alternative to vaccination is that more people would die of the disease.
The two vaccines currently in use from Moderna and Pfizer, Dr. Eadie said, are around 95% effective. Johnson and Johnson and AstraZeneca also have been preparing their vaccines for release, he said.
While the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, Dr. Eadie said, is 85% effective, he said that it could be delivered with one dose, as opposed to the two doses required with the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines.
Dr. Eadie noted that, in the case of the Pfizer vaccine, that testing had included participants who were 9.1% Black and more than 20% Latino, which he said was a reputable amount, showing the vaccine as safe for communities of color.
However, Dr. Eadie noted, that the study did not include pregnant or lactating women.
In addition, Dr. Eadie said that the Pfizer vaccine would not be recommended for children under 16 years of ago nor Moderna’s under 18, noting that testing is occurring on the safety of the vaccines for children.
Dr. Eadie said that he was honored to be appointed by Gov. Ned Lamont to the Connecticut Vaccine Advisory Group, and said that he felt it is important for him to work in that role against systemic racism and for ensuring vaccination equity.
The February 4, 2021 New Britain NAACP Health Forum was held online on Zoom. Members of the NAACP Bristol Branch also participated in the event.
