By Nelson A. King
NEW YORK, Jan. 2, CMC – It was a very eventful and unusual year for the global community in general, but two issues, by far, particularly dominated Caribbean nationals in the United States Diaspora.
The ongoing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the historic election of Caribbean American Kamala Harris, as US Vice President-elect, have had and continue to have implications for the Caribbean Diaspora community and the region on a whole.
As many in the global community, including the Caribbean community in New York, expressed fear in speaking about taking the COVID-19 vaccine, some Caribbean-born physicians urged community members to take the vaccine when it becomes available.
“It’s important that people take the vaccine,” Dr. Yolande Thomas-Badal, a Trinidadian-born internist and Emergency Room physician at Interfaith Medical Center in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn, New York, who took the COVID-19 vaccine at her hospital two Fridays ago, told the Caribbean Media Corporation (CMC).
“The vaccine is our first best defense from contracting COVID-19,” added Dr. Thomas-Badal, stating that she took the vaccine, because it “offers protection. “You have to think of the other people who you’re around,” Dr. Thomas-Badal added. “Being on the frontline and seeing patients with coronavirus; and, if there’s anything to help me to prevent coronavirus, I’ll do it.”
Dr. Clifford Young – a Vincentian-born attending physician at Woodhull Medical Center in Bedford-Stuyvesant and State University of New York (SUNY) Downstate Medical Center and University Hospital in Central Brooklyn, in the heart of the Caribbean community in Brooklyn – said that, while “Black people in this country are fearful of this vaccine, this vaccine is safe.
“I look at the data, and the vaccine is safe,” he accentuated. “Caribbean people and Blacks should take the vaccine.
“We have the most morbidity and mortality; so, we should take it (vaccine),” said Dr. Young, who also has a private medical practice in the Canarsie section of Brooklyn. “We suffer the most, we’re are an at risk-population, and we should be at the head of the line.
“Should we be fearful of the vaccine? And the answer is ‘no,’” Dr. Young said. “When my turn comes, I’ll take it.”
Two other Vincentian physicians – Drs. Desmond Browne and Kenneth “Kenny” Williams – have also urged the Caribbean community to take the COVID-19 vaccine.
“Everything you do in life is risk versus benefit,” said Dr. Browne, a family practice physician in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn. “There are people with medical conditions and people without medical conditions, and they test positive for the COVID-19 antibodies, and they didn’t know they had the virus.
“We (should) take the vaccine, because of the risk of terrible death,” added Dr. Browne, also a staff attending physician at three Brooklyn hospitals – Brooklyn Presbyterian Methodist Hospital, Brooklyn Hospital, and SUNY Downstate Medical Center and University Hospital of Brooklyn, noting that over 300,000 people in the United States also have died after contracting the COVID-19 virus. “It’s really apples and oranges here.
“We should jump at the opportunity to take the vaccine,” said Dr. Browne, disclosing that he’ll be taking the vaccine this week. “Absolutely, I’m in favor of Caribbean and Vincentian nationals taking the vaccine.”
Dr. Williams, an anesthesiologist at Edinburg Regional Medical Center, Edinburg, South Texas, said he did not hesitate to take the first dose of the vaccine on Dec. 17 – his second does is due on Jan. 4 – “based on information we (medical practitioners) were given, safety and everything else (94-95 percent efficacy).
“Because I deal with patients every time, I decided to get myself more protection sooner rather than later,” said Dr. Williams.
“Caribbean and Vincentian nationals are no different from anyone else,” he added, urging them to take the COVID-19 vaccine. “The vaccine is deemed safe, based on scientific principles. The Pfizer vaccine is the one I took. So far, I have tolerated it, with no side effects.
“The vaccine offers protection against contracting the virus,” he added. “It’s like any other vaccine in that respect. If you never contract the virus, you can’t spread it.
Guyanese-born Dr. Leslie Ramsammy, a St. George’s University School of Medicine in Grenada-trained physician, said the Caribbean community should “embrace the vaccine and marvel at the efforts that the world’s scientists have created.
On December 14, a Jamaican-born nurse created history by becoming the first person in the United States to receive the COVID-19 vaccine.
Sandra Lindsay, 52, an Intensive Care Unit (ICU) nurse at Long Island Jewish Medical Center in Queens, New York, received the vaccine shortly before 9:30 a.m., according to a statement from the Office of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo.
The vaccine was developed by New York-based pharmaceutical company Pfizer and authorized by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and New York’s Clinical Advisory Task Force.
But the Dominican-born president of the Washington-based Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) has warned that COVID-19 vaccines will not be an easy, quick fix for the Americas, including the Caribbean.
The COVID-19 pandemic that began in 2020 “is undoubtedly the most extraordinary public health event of our lifetimes,” Dr. Carissa F. Etienne said. “This pandemic stands out in both scale and impact. And it has put a spotlight on two of the longstanding challenges of our region: inequality and underinvestment of our health systems.
Since the start of this pandemic, less than a year ago, PAHO said the Region of the Americas has recorded nearly 31 million cases and 787,000 deaths due to COVID-19. This represents roughly half of all COVID-19 infections and deaths worldwide,” she added.
Concerning the election of US Vice President-elect Kamala Harris, a number of leading Caribbean artists will perform virtually in a major inauguration party.
According to Invest Caribbean – which claims to be “the number one global private sector, investment agency of the Caribbean” – it has initiated the Caribbean American Action Network (CAAN), a collective of Caribbean American and Caribbean organizations, to present “a live, virtual, Caribbean inauguration party under the theme, ‘Celebrating #CaribbeanAmericanKamala.’”
Invest Caribbean says that, on Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Weekend, January 17, there will be “an impressive gathering in cyberspace with some of the Caribbean’s most notable artistes, dignitaries, and organizations globally to mark another dynamic moment in history – the pending swearing in of Harris as the first Black and female, Caribbean-American US vice-president at the 59th Presidential inauguration.
It said the event will be co-hosted by the first Black woman in a James Bond movie, Trina Parks, whose roots extend to Barbados, through her mother, and to Antigua through her grandparents.
Invest Caribbean said also set to perform will be Barbados’ own Soca King, Edwin Yearwood of “All Aboard” fame and Krosfyah of “Pump Me Up” fame; as well as rising stars, Toni Norville and Kirk Brown; Jamaican gospel singer Joan Meyers, of “Can’t Even Walk” fame; independent Jamaican artiste Janine Jkuhl of “Sway” fam; and Owen Dalhouse, who recently released “Heal the Soul of America.”
Other performers include the famous Fab Five Band from Jamaica; Guyanese Menes De Griot and Shanto; Vincentian Frankie McIntosh; and Maxie Gouevia and Rashid Thorpe.
“This is a historic moment for us as Caribbean people in these United States, who have been here since slavery, and we are convinced that VP-elect Harris represents the best interest of all Americans, inclusive of those who share her Caribbean ancestry,” said Guyanese-born Felicia Persaud, the brainchild of the event, who is also a journalist, entrepreneur and advocate.
Harris, of California, the daughter of an Indian mother and Jamaican father, is the first woman to be elected vice-president of the United States.
She will assume office on January 20, when she and her US presidential running mate, Joe Biden, are sworn in the new US administration.
In the United States Senate, Harris said her mission remains unchanged: “fighting for the rights of all communities in California.”
Since taking office, she said she has introduced and cosponsored legislation to raise wages for working people, “reform our broken criminal justice system, make healthcare a right for all Americans, address the epidemic of substance abuse, support veterans and military families, and expand access to childcare for working parents.”
But whatever her current relationship with her father, Harris’s Jamaican ancestry cannot be omitted or overlooked from her achievements, as she is poised to be the first woman Vice President of the United States.
“And to the American people, no matter who you voted for, I will strive to be a vice president like Joe was to President (Barack) Obama – loyal, honest, and prepared, waking up every day thinking of you and your family, because now is when the real work begins, the hard work, the necessary work, the good work, the essential work to save lives and beat this (COVID-19) epidemic, to rebuild our economy, so it works for working people, to root out systemic racism in our justice system and society, to combat the climate crisis, to unite our country and heal the soul of our nation,” said Harris is her victory speech.
“The road ahead will not be easy, but America is ready; and so are Joe and I,” she added.
CMC/nk/kb/2021