According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), less than a quarter of African Americans are fully vaccinated against COVID-19. This is a frustrating statistic considering there have been nearly 700,00 new cases in the month of July alone. The Delta variant, which accounts for more than 80% of new U.S. coronavirus cases, adds another layer of immediacy to the clarion call for more people to get vaccinated.
What will it take to convince the “vaccine hesitant,” particularly African Americans, to consider the fear, facts and evidence and get themselves immunized?
According to Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, current vaccines are not only effective against the Delta variant, but they are also “imperative” to preventing other mutations. During a recent MSNBC interview, Fauci stressed that 99.5% of COVID-related deaths are among the unvaccinated while 0.9% are among the vaccinated.
What will it take to convince the “vaccine hesitant,” particularly African Americans, to process the fear, facts and evidence and get themselves immunized?
Across the country and locally, individuals, agencies and DJs are addressing that question in a multitude of hip, informative and culturally relevant ways.
“We have to make it a priority to have representatives who look like the community sharing what’s happening within our communities.” – Dr. Fredrick Echols,acting Director for St. Louis’ Department of Health
Iconic rapper Juvenile’s remix of his 1998 hit “Back That Thang Up,” a pro-vaccination anthem, was dubbed “the song of the summer,” by many music insiders.
The New Orleans-based rapper said the re-release was his way of encouraging others to save lives:
“We don’t know what we’re facing right now but we really do all need to be vaccinated so we can continue to do our thing and survive.”
Longtime St. Louisdisc jockey,“BJ the DJ,” applauds Juvenile’s effort.
“To be honest, any messaging is effective. There is not always a one size fits all solution. With every message, every individual is going to interpret it a different way. What’s important is getting people vaccinated.”
BJ, the assistant program director for iHeartMedia St. Louis, has been in the radio business for more than 40 years. He spoke with the American days after recording an interview with Gayle Smith, coordinator for the Global COVID Response & Health Security at the State Department.
He said it is “the duty” of Black radio to get vital information out to its audience.
“The resources are out there, and if we don’t bring them to our listeners then we’re failing the black community.”
Derrick Greene (AKA “DJ Derrick”), operations manager at WHHL Hot 104.1 and 96.3 TheLou, shared similar thoughts.
“A (radio) station that doesn’t feed information to the community, is not serving the community. There are voices out there, but they don’t necessarily speak the language of our people. The music connects us to our people and it’s our job to honor our community by giving them the information that they need.”
Dr. Fredrick Echols,acting Director for St. Louis’ Department of Health supports pro-vaccination musical messaging but says accuracy is paramount.
“Some individuals need to hear a song or a tune to be encouraged to receive the vaccine. We welcome that, but our primary goal is to make sure individuals have accurate information. If a song is providing inaccurate information, then we don’t want that to be shared in our community,” he said.
Echols said his agency has contracted with local radio stations and is using STL TV, the city’s public information channel, to promote culturally sensitive and accurate messages to the black community.
The “Roll Up Your Sleeve, Get Vaccinated” PSA campaign features high profile individuals such as Echols, Kwofe Coleman,managing director at the Muny,Mayor Tishaura Jones and U.S. Rep. Cori Bush encouraging people to get information from the health department and get vaccinated.
“When we see that African Americans continue to account for 50 percent of COVID-19-related deaths and 80 percent of COVID-19-related cases in the city, we have to make it a priority to have representatives who look like the community sharing what’s happening within our communities,” Echols said.
Listening to Black people is equally as important as talking to them, said Laurna Godwin, president of Vector Communications public relations firm.
Godwin created the marketing material for PrepareSTL’s outreach campaign and oversaw canvassing efforts in marginalized communities to gauge the fears and feelings of residents
“We started in March 2020, because we knew the Black community was going to be hit particularly hard by this pandemic,” Godwin explained.
“We paid health care workers and canvassers to go out into the community to distribute information. When they came back, they had to fill out a form telling us what they heard and what people were concerned about.
“It was like a continuous focus group where we could tailor the message that was most effective to our target audience.”
Tailoring an effective message means addressing the concerns canvassers heard, Godwin added.
The “COVID-19 Vaccines” page on PrepareSTL’s website (https://www.preparestl.com/) lists some of the “valid reasons” communities of color have for “fearing and distrusting the health care community” which include: “Multiple health disparities; More deaths from COVID-19 and “Different quality of healthcare.”
Acknowledging ingrained fears up front then backing that up with accurate information makes the PrepareSTL media slogan: “COVID-19 vaccines, the choice is yours,” more effective with communities of color, Godwin said.
As much as black radio stations, health officials and marketing firms are doing to reach the vaccine hesitant in Black communities, DJ Derrick thinks more can be done.
“I’d like to put together a 2021 ‘We are the World’-type campaign. There are enough local celebrities to pull off an effective campaign right now, right here. We just start with the king, Nelly, then go right on down the list,” he said.
Sylvester Brown Jr. is The St. Louis American’s inaugural Deaconess Fellow.
For more info on local pro-vaccination campaigns visit: https://www.preparestl.com/
Dr. Echols/“Roll Up Your Sleeve Get Vaccinated” campaign:https://youtu.be/qY8jqghsnVM
