North Minneapolis clinicians working to give residents trust in, access to, new COVID vaccines

By Harry Colbert, Jr., Editor-in-Chief

The examples are plentiful … and disgusting. 

J. Marion Sims, the so-called “father of modern gynecology” acquired much of his knowledge by experimenting on Black slave women. In the 1950s and ‘60s the government sprayed mostly Black inhabited housing projects in St. Louis with experimental biological weapons. That spraying led to chronic lung problems for many of the residents. Though it began in 1932, it wasn’t until 50 years later in 1972 – and only after a whistleblower came forward – that the United States government ended the heinous Tuskegee Experiment, an experiment where men with syphilis were denied treatment even though they were being assured the “medicine” they were taking was beneficial. 

Vials of the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine are ready to be injected in the arms of Minnesotans, but the question is are Minnesotans ready and willing to take the prick. Photo from Pfizer 

So, it comes as little surprise that a Pew Research Center poll revealed that the group least likely to say they would take the new COVID-19 vaccines (just 42 percent) are Black Americans. But medical providers on the Northside are working to break through the distrust to help protect residents. Easing the distrust means confronting and acknowledging the past. 

“We’re doing a great job at not avoiding the elephant in the room,” said Dr. Michael Brooks, Dental Director and community liaison at NorthPoint Health and Wellness. “We’re having deep conversations with our community, talking about the benefits and risks with the new vaccine.” 

Brooks said NorthPoint’s medical director, Dr. Paul Erickson, has read the vaccine study from front to back and is confident that the vaccine is both safe and effective. Brooks also said Black people and People of Color were involved at every level of trial for the vaccine. 

“I did not know that one of the physicians who helped create the vaccine is a Black woman,” said Adriene Thornton, nurse and infection preventionist at Children’s Minnesota during a recent virtual town hall conducted by the African American Leadership Forum. “Had this come out earlier this could have changed a lot of the conversation about the vaccine months and months ago.”

Two companies, Pfizer and Moderna, have developed vaccines approved for emergency use and Gov. Tim Walz announced a plan to vaccinate Minnesotans, starting with frontline workers and those most at risk. Brooks said the community NorthPoint serves is both of those. 

“What we are concerned with is making sure the community has access to the vaccine,” said Brooks. “We want to make sure our community is at the front for having access.” 

One person who was initially opposed to getting the vaccine but has since changed her belief is Mauri Friestleben. 

Friestleben, the principal at North Community High School, is recovering from a serious bout of COVID-19 that manifested in pneumonia. She said her personal experience led to a change of heart. 

“Before (contracting) COVID, when people talked about vaccines I was like, ‘Nope,’” said Friestleben. “Now I feel completely different. We may not know what’s in the vaccine, but we really don’t know what’s in this virus.”