Two vaccines have arrived to help with this COVID outbreak, one from Pfizer and one from Moderna. I have signed up for neither.
I know as a nurse I should be one of the first to get out there and get vaccinated. However, I still have questions that I needed answers for and only recently have I starting finding the answers. I wanted to know more about side effects, how many participated in the studies, how is the vaccine supposed to work?
There is also one other thing that has been holding me back; I am black and I have an inherent distrust of the medical system, the very system I am a part of as a nurse. Learning about things such as the “Tuskegee experiment”, seeing how many times the healthcare system has failed black women, seeing in person how implicit bias plays a role in how medical professionals treat people of color, realizing that there was only a small amount of people of color (9.8%) were actually in the Pfizer study, all make me wary.
I want to trust the science behind the vaccine. I want to trust the medical system. I want to believe in the potential of finally getting this pandemic under control. I also want to feel safe.
Barely Sane Nurse 
This is definitely a solid example of room reading. I don’t blame you for choosing that path. It’s all about your worth.
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These are totally legit concerns. I don’t know all the answers myself, but i have been reading a lot, so that i could be informed, and also for my patients.
Are you on Instagram? There are a lot of scientists on IG sharing some really awesome resources about how the COVID19 vaccine was formulated, how it was trials, and debunking all the myths. Check out :
https://www.instagram.com/kizzyphd/ Dr. Corbett is a Black female viral researcher and is one of the lead researchers who designed the Moderna vaccine
https://www.instagram.com/niniandthebrain/ for stats on whether the vaccine was tested enough and she debunks all these myths
https://www.instagram.com/kinggutterbaby/ for updates on all things COVID- she’s an ID researcher, worked on the moderna clinical trials, and always debunks claims in the news and media about covid
https://www.instagram.com/kennenhutchison/ Kennen is a scientist and awesome educator about viruses – and he has a great video explaining side effects and how its actually your body equipping and training to defend itself against a future invader. Hope this helps!!! =D
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You went above and beyond with all these recommendations! I’ve been reading more and more on it and making sure I find legitimate sources. I will check out all of these docs on Instagram, I want all the info I can find! Seriously though, thank you for all these recommendations!!!!!
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You are so welcome !! Let me know if you have particular questions then I can try to help find the answers. I had some other nurse friends who had expressed reservations too and she said she didn’t have the time to research so I sought out to find out more info. I’m learning too! If you’d like I can share more resources too. 😄
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Thanks for sharing these links. I’ve been doing some research too, and I’m glad to see these sources. Thanks again!
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you are very welcome!!!
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OH! i forgot to share one more resource who is AMAZING and I have learned so much from.
Dr.J Rutland is a Black pulmonologist/critical care doc on IG, but I’ve linked his Youtube here because his videos are so educational! He’s a great teacher too and teaches how the mRNA vaccine works here in this video:
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