Connie Portis, coordinator, Sisters & Friends Getaway
I am one of the participants in the Johnson and Johnson trial for the one shot vaccine. In early November I signed up to be part of a COVID vaccine study. I regretted not participating in earlier studies and feared that it may be too late for me to contribute to being part of the COVID vaccine solution. I shared my desire to volunteer in a trial with the few family and friends who would not try to talk me out of it but give me their opinions and cheer me on. I was motivated by a nagging feeling that I should do something more than just wait for the shot.
I teased my nieces that when the time came for healthcare workers to be vaccinated, I was going to grab one of their nurses uniforms and stand with them in line! From the onset, I had no fear of being vaccinated.
A few days after Thanksgiving I received a call from the University of Pittsburgh vaccine research team for the Johnson and Johnson trials I could hardly contain my excitement. I didn’t want there to be an excuse for not being able to monitor the vaccine’s effectiveness for black people. The experts, including Dr. Fauci, stated that while black and brown people are more likely to die and have serious effects from contracting COVID, there were not enough of us at the time participating in studies. Like most in my community we know that seeing higher statistics of COVID deaths for ‘our people’ causes conspiracies to fester, makes us suspicious of participating in trials and seeking treatment and will likely keep us from getting the shot once proven it works.
In the beginning of the pandemic, I knew of no one in my community contracting COVID. It’s a stark contrast from today when I receive frequent calls and see new Facebook posts about close friends and acquaintances – my people – dying or losing loved ones. The day a CNN commentator stated that “every 30 seconds someone dies from COVID”, I wondered, which 30 seconds was named for my neighbor who suffered for weeks and had just passed away from the disease? I thought, can we name every 30 seconds for lost loved ones like people name stars in tribute to their loved ones? Seems unfair that the dead will become nameless statistics to be counted in spreadsheets with defining cell headings, “black” “female” “65-75” etc. The next day after learning of my friend’s death, I got the call to participate in the study.
The pre qualifying phone interview with the physician was pretty routine and ended with an appointment date for the next week. On the day of the shot there were more health questions, taking my vitals, weight, height, blood pressure, heartbeat, oxygen, temperature, drawing blood samples and an explanation of the study. The most uncomfortable part was exposing my growing stomach! At the end of an hour and a half, I got the shot. Simple, quick, nothing out of the ordinary – like a flu shot. I rolled my sleeve down and waited for 15 minutes and then left. Since, I’ve had no side effects, nothing unusual.
I am obligated to report any health change by using the phone app that records my comments and communicates to the research staff. Some people in the study got the vaccine, others got the placebo. I don’t know which I received but I am proud to be that kind of study statistic, “black” “female” “70-80”. There are thousands of people of color from around the world participating in these trials helping to confirm the vaccine’s effectiveness for millions of black people so that going forward our family members will not have to wonder which 30 seconds will bear our name from the death of COVID.
I know that we all must ‘go’ some day. I believe that the miracles of medicine offer us the opportunity to shape the quality of life we have left to live. That is why I volunteered. If proven effective, the study I am in is a one shot dose and will afford many people of all races years of a better quality of both physical and mental health. For those apprehensive about participating in trials and getting the vaccine, we get you…! When time comes and a Covid 19 vaccine is available for you…please, get the shot.
Connie Portis is former publisher and President of Renaissance Publications. She is founder and coordinator of Sisters & Friends Getaway.
