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Zakiya Jenkins was skeptical of vaccines, and even more so when COVID hit. “It was all happening so fast, I had so many questions such as ‘how could they have come up with a vaccine that quickly’ and ‘will they give Black people different doses of the vaccine.’ These were real questions I had due to the history my community has experienced with the medical community. The distrust was real.”
Zakiya is not alone. Distrusting a system that has historically exploited and continues to discriminate against African Americans is understandable. Yet this distrust extends beyond the African American community. Almost half of those who received the vaccine in America reported having some level of hesitancy, and only 68% of America was vaccinated as of March 2023. We fare better when it comes to all childhood immunizations, but have been lagging behind for other vital vaccines.
The start of school is often synonymous with stocking up on brand-new school supplies from your box store of choice, but it is also the time to take inventory of your child’s vaccinations. Pulling kids out of the freedom and flexibility of summer vacation, and into confined spaces for up to eight hours makes for an excellent breeding zone for viruses, bacteria, and germs (oh, my!). And vaccinations not only can help protect these children, but they offer protection to their families, their peers, and their entire community.
Currently, there is some confusion in Iowa related to a vaccine that can prevent 90 percent of cancer caused by HPV. This past year, legislators struck the requirement of teaching about HPV and HPV prevention from bill language related to human sexuality instruction (because, why would we want to ensure our kids knowing how to protect themselves?) but, unlike many other educational opportunities in Iowa, it did not make this teaching illegal.
Most of the time, public health and its inherent benefits fly under the radar. It is so much harder to perceive the effects when something that is preventive, but public health measures have added 25 years to people’s lives in industrial countries in the past century. Enter COVID, and the mantra “My body, my choice” became the rallying cry against more widespread use of masks and vaccines that saved millions of lives in the U.S. This was not the first time that this backlash against public health occurred, but the scale and speed of the politicization was unprecedented.
It is appreciated that Gov. Kim Reynolds proclaimed August to be Immunization Awareness Month. But we need wide bipartisan support to ensure policy to increase vaccine access and guarantee appropriate education about vaccines that save lives, prevent serious illness, and, yes, save dollars.
Vaccines, despite a lot of manufactured controversy, are safe. “Since vaccines are administered to otherwise healthy people, they are among the most rigorously tested and safest medical products on the market. In fact, it can take approximately $1 billion to thoroughly test a new vaccine before it is licensed and made available to the public” said Elizabeth Faber of Iowa Immunizes, a coalition made up of individuals and organizations across the state committed to protecting the health of Iowans through vaccination.
Having a trusting relationship with a health care provider is key to overcoming fear. “I knew this was real after I saw all the people dying from it across the country and when it started hitting close to home, I began educating myself about it. Not listening to the news but talking to providers I trusted,” Zakiya explained. “I started working with community organizations because I saw the Black community was being hit hard due to underlying health conditions that was not addressed pre-pandemic and I knew I had to do something. My mom, daughter and I went to Polk County health department and got the vaccine. We didn’t know what to expect but we knew we wanted to protect ourselves, our family and those in the community and we did it. We didn’t have any adverse side effects besides a little soreness in our arms. When we drove away there was a sigh of relief that we had did it and now we felt protected.”
Zakiya took her message of empowerment back to her community:
“Once I was vaccinated, I was able to get to work on educating people in my community that they could live after getting the vaccine. During the pandemic “Black Health Matters” was created to educate African Americans about COVID and the vaccine. It was aired on a Black local radio 89.3 KJMC to discuss concerns we had around the vaccine from professionals of color. We worked with various community organizations to have vaccine health fairs that included gift cards to incentivize people to receive the vaccine. We never judged but we always listened to their concerns and once we educated them about it and they knew we were vaccinated, they were able to ask us questions and that helped them make their decision about receiving the vaccine.” Her organization, Grace Fitness, went on to convince over 50 people of all ages to agree to be on a billboard promoting the importance of vaccines.
This fall brings a potential tripledemic, where we will be challenged by the flu, RSV, and new COVID variants. And other diseases, including HPV, continue to be of concern.
“We all want our schools to be a safe place where kids can learn and grow- not (a place to) get a vaccine-preventable disease,” says Elizabeth Faber. “My hope is that besides making sure your kid has all their school supplies, you also make sure they are protected from vaccine-preventable diseases by staying up to date on all recommended vaccines.”
Get your shots, and if you want to help make a larger impact, send this letter to your school officials and nurse to ensure HPV education continues despite confusion caused by legislation.
Chris Espersen is a Gazette editorial fellow. chris.espersen@thegazette.com
Opinion content represents the viewpoint of the author or The Gazette editorial board. You can join the conversation by submitting a letter to the editor or guest column or by suggesting a topic for an editorial to editorial@thegazette.com
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