Why You Should Take The Covid-19 Vaccine
In an article published on The Seattle Medium on January 6, 2021, Dr. Ben Danielson, MD; Dr. Maxine Hayes, MD; Dr. Rayburn Lewis, MD; Dr. Meredith Mathews, MD; Dr. John Vassall, MD; and Dr. Bessie Young, MD, outline how they made the decision to take the coronavirus vaccine and why they recommend that all Americans take it.
“Many Black Americans are not ready to take coronavirus vaccine. With all the confusion and misinformation about the disease and the vaccine, we are not surprised. As physicians in the community, we study information and make decisions that are in the best interests of our patients, our families, and the communities we serve. We urge you and all Americans to take the coronavirus vaccine as soon as it is available to you. Here is how we made the decision to take the coronavirus vaccine and why we recommend that you take it.
“COVID-19 disease is a real and serious disease. There have been 60,601 confirmed cases and 1,056 deaths in King County as of January 3, 2021. There have been more than 20 million cases in the United States and about 350,000 deaths. There is more disease and more death every day and the disease is not going away. While it may be true that most people recover from the virus, we have no way to not know who will recover and who will die. Old people, young people, sick people, healthy people, children have all been killed by Covid-19. Black people are getting the disease because we are more likely to be around crowds and infected strangers. There is no effective treatment and no cure, so the best plan is to avoid getting the virus. If you can’t avoid getting it, the vaccine gives protection to keep you from getting seriously sick and to keep you from dying.”