By Cheryl Smith
Dallas County Commissioner John Wiley Price is 70 years old, and according to established guidelines, he could have been at the head of the line to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
While many may have assumed that he, like so many other elected officials in his age group, had already taken the COVID-19 vaccine; he had not, until Monday.
At a press conference at the Ellis Davis Fieldhouse Complex, one of the sites selected in January to administer drive-thru and by-appointment-only vaccinations, Price discussed the Coronavirus
and encouraged citizens to join him in line to get the vaccine.
There’s nothing ‘politically phobia-motivated or back-room concocted to explain why it has taken Price more than two months after the first vaccine was administered on December 14, 2020 in New York, to get his shot.
Instead, he has been working to ensure fair and equitable distribution of services and vaccines; while also educating his constituents on information as quickly as it becomes available.
“Since the introduction of the Pfizer vaccine, I have been inundated with questions from people in this community and frankly across the country,” he said. “The doubt and skepticism around this issue concerns me.”
In addition to encouraging citizens to register and take the vaccine at their earliest opportunity, Price focused on dispelling and dismissing some of the misinformation and conspiracy theories surrounding the issue.
“Too many people in our community refuse the treatment basedon an erroneous belief about the infamous ‘Tuskegee experiment,’” he explained, citing author James Jones’ book, “Bad Blood” by James Jones, and a June 2016 article about the “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male,” that appeared in the magazine, “The Atlantic.”
Dr. Vivian Bradley Johnson, Parkland Senior Vice President of Clinical Services, said she was pleased when she heard that the commissioner was taking the vaccine.
“I’ve been waiting for Commissioner Price to take it,” she said. “I believe he will help get others to accept it. If he is taking it then they feel that others will trust it.”
According to Dr. Johnson said health officials have been working to get influencers, “individuals who people listen to and respect,” in hopes that more people will sign up, get tested, and take the vaccine.
“People respect him (Price) in the community and they trust him,” said Dr. Johnson, who acknowledged that, “Blacks have experienced mistreatment so they don’t trust every person trying to get them to be part of a study or take medications. Commissioner Price is very engaged.”
While yet another COVID 19 vaccine has been approved for use, concerns have been raised not only about the disparity in doses distributed to African Americans, but also the refusal by many to take the vaccine.
“This virus and its emerging variants are too dangerous for a demographic that is already vastly underserved in terms of healthcare delivery,” the commissioner said. “No one has lost more jobs, small businesses, or opportunities than the African American and minority communities. We have the
hardest hit and we need to be the first ones to take advantage of any opportunity to secure our health and safety.”
That people are referencing a study that lasted over 40 years, 1932-1972; to justify their hesitancy to take the vaccine today should not be discounted, many say.
At a virtual town hall meeting hosted by the NAACP recently, experts talked about the mistrust that runs deep throughout Black and Brown communities. Callers into the program were concerned that while Blacks and Browns were disproportionately affected by COVID-19, the vaccines appeared to be going primarily to other communities; and many cited historical “assaults” on people of color.
Price pointed out that misinformation is an area that must beaddressed if any effort is going to be successful, especially when you look at the devastating effects of those impacted by the Syphilis Study.
“The Public Health Service officials followed 600 rural Black men in Alabama who had Syphilis, over the course of their lives, refusing to tell patients their diagnosis, refusing to treat them for the debilitating disease and denying some of them treatment,” he said.
Price continued in his reasoning and rationale for taking the vaccine publicly.
“The common misunderstanding is that Black men were injected with syphilis,” he explained. “Thatis an erred notion that has never been widely challenged in the public square. The real travesty was that health professionals had a cure and refused to share it with men who looked like me.”
The Syphilis Study is just one of many atrocities that makes some say it’s no wonder that Blacks and Browns are hesitant about anything that is sanctioned by the government.
Price said “too many of us have the wrong information about the study,” the virus and the vaccine.
For Price, who also follows the science, as so many medical experts have implored, the vaccines that have been approved are the best bet for dealing with the pandemic.
With efforts to get more vaccines to Dallas County, such as the announcement that an additional 6,000 doses would be available for those in jail, all hands are on deck working to achieve some form of normalcy, led by President Joe Biden, who Price praises for also being serious about stemming the tide and surpassing “his goal of 100 million vaccinated in the first 100 days.”
Price admits, there’s more work to do and he’s going to continue doing his part.
“I fight daily for those who have been underserved historically,” he said. “Our senior and indigent populations should at least get an equal shot at this vaccine. We need to take the Moderna, Pfizer, or Johnson and Johnson version as quickly as possible.”
