COVID-19 Communications Recommendations for Outreach to Black Communities

The following recommendations are based on Black intra-community discussions concerning the COVID-19 pandemic. Black Americans have legitimate fears concerning the healthcare industry. Black communities in the United States have suffered through medical experimentation, forced sterilization, and overall “medical apartheid.” The purpose of these recommendations is to help outreach initiatives with building trust, providing information, and providing clarity through strategic communications concerning the COVID-19 virus and vaccine in Black communities.

Key questions and concerns from within Black communities regarding COVID-19 and the vaccine: 

• Will the vaccine make us sick?
• What is in the vaccine?
• Will the vaccine be used against us?
• Has the vaccine been tested enough?
• Will the vaccine be effective?
• Is the vaccine necessary, is COVID-19 really life threatening?
• Why should we trust the healthcare industry when we couldn’t trust them before?

Types of COVID-19 misinformation in Black communities:

• False information about the origins of COVID-19
• False information that minimizes the severity of COVID-19
• False information about how the vaccine was created
• False information about the purpose of the vaccine
• False information about side-effects of the vaccine

Acknowledging medical racism and health disparities:

Amid this unprecedented pandemic, the healthcare industry must acknowledge and atone for systemic medical racism, highlight the global impact of COVID-19, work towards correcting misinformation, share the science, and provide prioritized access to vaccinations when possible. Ultimately, healthcare fields, industries, and professionals must give Black communities a reason to trust them.

1. Address the history of medical racism.
2. Address systemic racism and how it has made Black communities more heavily impacted by COVID-19.
3. Highlight systemic healthcare changes, programs, and initiatives that benefit Black communities.
4. Highlight the necessity of protecting Black lives in this moment.
5. Provide clarity concerning common misinformation. For example, details about the Tuskegee Syphilis Study are often misunderstood; many falsely believe that Black men were injected with syphilis. However, this did not occur. The men in the study suffered because they were exploited, mistreated, and deprived of much-needed medication.
6. Provide information about COVID-19 for the purpose of education, while avoiding forceful or judgmental language.

Highlight the impact: 

Emphasize that COVID-19 is a global pandemic and that COVID-19 vaccines are being taken in countries around the world.

Show the numbers: 

1. Highlight the racial disparities.
2. State how many Black people have been infected.
3. Show the percentage and numbers of how many have died.
4. Give the percentages across races.

Share and explain the science: 

1. Explain why COVID-19 is different from other healthcare issues (Cancer, HIV, Diabetes).
2. Share information about what the vaccine contains.
3. Share information about how the vaccine works.
4. Share information about how long the vaccine lasts.
5. Share information about how effective the vaccine is.
6. Explain how the vaccine slows the spread of COVID-19.
7. Share how effective the vaccine is against new strains.
8. Explain the different vaccines: Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech
9. Explain why the vaccine was able to be created within a short time frame.
10. Share information about the trials, including how many people participated, how many people were protected from the virus, how many people contracted the virus from among the participants.

Don’t assume: Try to get more information about and from specific communities if possible. Consider surveys and documenting key concerns or questions that emerge in town hall conversations or one-on-ones.

Show diverse leadership: Show diverse leadership of all ethnicities and backgrounds speaking about COVID-19 and taking the vaccine. Highlighting Black healthcare professionals is essential but featuring other races and ethnicities taking the vaccine helps address fears of Black communities being targeted or feeling forced to take the vaccine.

Be available to answer questions:

1. Host one-on-one conversations through a hotline or chat service where people can ask questions
2. Host intra-community conversations featuring trusted healthcare workers, providers, community leaders, and organizations
3. Host community office-hours

Possible Modes of communications:

• Live video Town Halls with community-based organizations, community leaders, and Black religious institutions
• Short-form videos with 1-2 minute explainers
• Informative tweets and twitter threads
• House flyer, mailer, postcard distribution
• Community newsletters or bulletins
• Television and radio PSAs

Resources for information:

APM Research Lab: The Color of Coronavirus: COVID-19 Deaths by Race and Ethnicity in the U.S.
https://www.apmresearchlab.org/covid/deaths-by-race

CDC: Risk for COVID-19 Infection, Hospitalization, and Death By Race/Ethnicity
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/covid-data/investigations-discovery/hospitalization-death-by-race-ethnicity.html

COVID Black
https://www.covidblack.org/

Data For Black Lives: The Impact of COVID-19 on Black Communities
https://d4bl.org/covid19-data