Event Information
Southern African Community USA (SACU), hosted a townhall on the COVID-19 vaccine on March 21st, 2020. We spoke to public health professionals in the southern African community about everything related to the COVID-19 vaccine. We also spoke to members of the community who spoke about their experiences with COVID-19 or the getting the vaccine. For details about the event promotion, speakers, topics covered and other info see below. For additional information (links, organization names, and other useful information) shared by speakers during their sessions, see respective topic summary section.
Event Promotion
GET ALL YOUR VACCINE QUESTIONS ANSWERED
Date: Sunday, March 21, 2021 [past event]
Time: 4:00 PM – 5:30 PM
Zoom ID 983 7026 9012 || Password 2013
Topics:
Income Inequality and Access || Global Disparities, Access & Distribution || Firsthand Perspectives: Life with COVID, My Vaccine Story ||The Science Behind the COVID Vaccine ||Medical Apartheid & The African Community || Steaming, Sangomas and Traditional Healing
Guest Speakers: Dr. Bukhosi Dube; Elisa Munthali, MPH; Graig Jaricha; and Zandy Smith; also featuring South African Sangoma, Baba Nkanyezi
Moderator: Thoko Kachipande, MA
Topic Summary:
Session 1: Local & Global Disparities || Elisa Munthali
Income Inequality and Access
This topic addresses healthcare disparities and inequality in vaccine access, distribution, registration in the larger US. It will address the demographics and profile of COVID-19 patients as well as the demographics of those getting vaccinated and it will locate African Diaspora communities within those trends.
Global Disparities, Access & Distribution
This topic addressed inequality in global access, distribution, and registration globally with a focus on Africa). It also addresses global power and poverty and how it impacts COVID-19 numbers, clinical trials, and access to the vaccine. It addresses the similarities and differences in the Global South and North in terms of access and distribution. It also addresses how these disparities relate to vaccine hesitancy.
Supplemental Information from Speaker:
- Advocacy Network for Africa Forum – Diaspora Advocacy Group:
- COVAX – COVAX is co-led by CEPI, Gavi and WHO, alongside key delivery partner UNICEF.
Session 2: Firsthand Perspectives|| Graig Jaricha and Zandy Smith
Life with COVID-19
A personal perspective detailing what having COVID-19 has been like and the decision making process when deciding whether or not to get a vaccine. – Graig Jaricha
My Vaccine Story
A personal perspective detailing what getting the vaccine has been like and the personal choices that one makes when getting the vaccine. – Zandy Smith
Session 3: The Vaccine & Other Remedies || Dr. Bukhosi Dube
The Science Behind the COVID-19 Vaccine
This topic details how the vaccine were created, clinical trials, and the approval process. It includes a discussion about the different vaccine options available and the major differences between them. It also addresses vaccine dosage and efficacy, and the goal of herd immunity through immunizations. It also begins to tackle some commonly shared myths about the vaccine which lead to vaccine hesitancy i.e. it has the mark of the beast, it turns people into Zombies; it alters your DNA, or it simply doesn’t work.
Supplemental Information from Speaker:
Medical Apartheid & The African Community
This topic addresses how experimentation through authorized and/or unauthorized clinical trials on African and African Americans contributes to iatrophobia (fear or distrust of the healthcare system) in Black communities. This contributes to vaccine hesitancy and some African people preferring alternative or traditional remedies.
Steaming, Sangoma’s and Traditional Healing
There are many traditional remedies for COVId-19 that are being shared on social media or through state institutions that impact our region. This topic includes a discussion on the role of traditional healing practices used during pandemics in the past and present. This will include a discussion of the viability of treatments such as steaming, bluegum/eucalyptus, Madagascar’s COVID-19 Organics, ginger drinks and/or Sangoma visits which have all been methods that people have turned to during the pandemic.
Questions and Answers
Open space for discussion about the vaccine. Participants are welcome to ask questions or share their own opinions, fears, hopes about the vaccine and/or access to the vaccine.
Speaker Bios
Moderator
Thoko Kachipande-Prenatt is a Malawian-American with a passion for promoting a balanced presentation of African culture, history, and news. She spent most of her formative years in Germany and South Africa before settling in the U.S. Kachipande has worked in non-profit and health science industries for over a decade. She is a career healthcare and science communication professional who holds an M.A. in Communication from Johns Hopkins University and a social science undergraduate degree focusing on African/African-American studies. When it comes to journalism and writing, she likes to remember that “history is written by the winners and those who bother to write” (Winston Churchill/George Orwell).