Organization holds online events, discussions to quell vaccine fears in Black community

An online program has rebranded itself and relaunched, as of Wednesday.

Black Life Amplified is working to reach people of color during the pandemic and beyond.

Not only do Black Life Amplified virtual events give updates on the pandemic, they also include panel conversations on issues such as policy, education and employment. The focus of Wednesday’s online event is: "Vaccine, the myths, the truths."

"It’s OK to be fearful, it’s OK to be afraid, but you don’t want to make decisions based on that," Adriene Thornton, infection preventionist at Children’s Minnesota, said.

Through the virtual platform, Thornton is getting real about what’s real with the COVID-19 vaccine.

"We realized early on that Black and brown people were disproportionately impacted by COVID-19," Thornton said.

So, organizers of Black Life Amplified are creating a space led by Black and brown medical professionals.

Stan Alleyne, Black Life Amplified coordinator, added, "We need to make sure we have people who can relate to the community, who have lived in the community."

It has trusted, empathetic sources to squash myths.

"The one that I keep hearing … is that when you get the vaccine, there’s actually a microchip, so that you can be monitored, and that is not true, there are no chips of any kind in the vaccine," Thornton said.

"A lot of people feel like the vaccine isn’t safe and that Black people are being used as guinea pig s… There are a lot of safeguards that are put into place to protect humans from being used and abused in studies … The vaccine is safe, it’s effective, and we are not being used as guinea pigs," Thorton added.

Black Life Amplified town halls are usually every other Wednesday. You can sign up on the African American Leadership Forum’s website.