The Cincinnati Enquirer from Cincinnati, Ohio • B9

Ohio cincinnati.com TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2020 9B Jessica Ross, a 23-year-old Black woman in Atlanta, said she and many other Black women in her circle are ner- vous about getting the COVID-19 vac- cine. a graduate student in public health at Emory University and has been closely following news of the vac- development. But that shake the fear history has imprinted on her community. Medical testing such as the Tuskegee Syphilis Study on Black men, which did not provide them with treatment to cure the disease, and the case of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cancer cells were used for research without her or her permission, many have cultivated distrust in public health sys- tems. Many in her circle of family and friends nervous about, this going to be tested out on minority she said.

fear something similar happening again with the COVID-19 Several polls have shown the ambiv- alence surrounding the vaccine among people of color. Half of surveyed Black adults planning to take the vaccine, even if available free and scientists assure safe, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation and The Undefeat- ed, race, sports and culture web- site. But a recent survey has found Black women like Ross and Latino women, more than men, are most reluctant to get the vaccine. Only of Black women and about of Latina women opted to take the vaccine as soon as possible, accord- ing to the poll by MassINC Polling Group in Massachusetts, which surveyed 1,100 residents across the state. In contrast, of Black men and just shy of a quarter of Latino men re- sponded take the vaccine as soon as possible.

That rate was about a third of white women and of white men. Women of color are to dispel COVID-19 vaccine fears Experts and members of these com- munities surprised. The history of unethical testing and experi- mentation on Black men and women colors the lack of trust. But as the coronavirus continues to threaten people of color most, medical experts say dispelling skepticism is es- sential, and women of color could be the key. Folakemi Odedina, a pharmaceutical scientist and longtime researcher of health disparities, is the principal inves- tigator at the University of CaRE2 Health Equity center in Orlando, which started under the National Insti- tutes of federal cancer research program.

goal is to develop the right in- formation for Black and Latino and Na- tive American communities, and tailor or target that information for Odedina said. Odedina has been spearheading a fo- cus group of Floridia residents to extract the concerns people of color have about the vaccine and provide in- formation. She said although concerns about the vaccine were expressed equally among men and women in her focus group, women of color are to dispel fears because of their leadership roles in their families and communities. When Black women, who are often the family caregivers, are informed, they can then ensure their families get vaccinated, she said. women of color, think about it: We are the she said.

reach the large number of people who will pass the information down, the role of women of color is very Dr. Fatima Rodriguez, an assistant professor of cardiovascular medicine at Stanford medical school who has been researching death and hospitalization rates among Black and Latino COVID-19 patients, also noted that many women of color are leaders of multigenerational households. can get their kids to take the vaccine, their husbands, other family members that live in these multigener- ational households. So we certainly want the head of the household to get vaccinated and then encourage others to do she said. Although she has heard the hesi- tance among Black men in her circle, Ross said the worries come mostly from women.

actually have heard at least one person say have a family that I need to be around Ross said, referring to a colleague who is a Black mom in her mid-30s. my circle, been hearing it brought up more in the minority wom- not sure why, but Rodriguez said the lack of research about the safety among preg- nant and breastfeeding women may be a contributing factor. that are pregnant, that are breastfeeding a little bit of a gray zone is the vaccine safe? Because it been studied (on Rodri- guez said. Leaders must rise up: happy to take it in Historically, public health campaigns are usually developed to help educate and inform communities about the safety, and importance of vaccinations but the COVID-19 vac- cine was developed so quickly that proper dissemination of information to populations really been done yet, Rodriguez said. shows we have a lot of work to she said.

we need to do is have trusted community ambassadors and messengers just relaying that this is a safe vaccine, that Part of that, Rodriguez said, is ensur- ing that Black, Latino and Native Amer- ican women and men understand the alternative of not getting vaccinated. of these people are not going to die or get sick (from taking the vac- she said. alternative is so serious that I think that really stresses to our communities that we have to get To help establish trust among their own communities, Odedina suggested medical leaders of color should lead by example and publicize their own will- ingness to take the vaccine. my turn to take it, hap- py to take it in Odedina said. Women of color key to Vaccine success relies on willing ambassadors my turn to take (the COVID-19 vaccine), happy to take it in says Folakemi Odedina, a pharmaceutical scientist.

SIPHIWE FILE Nada Hassanein USA TODAY Experts say the ingredients in the COVID-19 vaccine developed by and German partner BioNTech, which was authorized Friday by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, looks pretty standard for a vaccine. In a letter to the FDA, listed the ingredients in its vaccine. They can be organized into four categories: Active ingredient 30 mcg of a messenger RNA (modRNA) encoding the viral spike (S) glycoprotein of SARS-CoV-2. Fats lipids (0.43 mg (4-hydroxybutyl) (2-hexyldecanoate), 0.05 mg tetradecylacetamide, 0.09 mg tearoyl-sn-glycero-3- phosphocholine, and 0.2 mg cholesterol) Salts 0.01 mg potassium chloride 0.01 mg monobasic potassium phosphate 0.36 mg sodium chloride 0.07 mg dibasic sodium phosphate dihydrate Sugar 6 mg sucrose too surprising said Dr.

Matthew Heinz, a hospitalist based in Tucson, Arizona. a normal way of packaging up medications for peo- The only active ingredient is the messenger RNA encoding the viral spike of SARS-CoV-2. That describes the mRNA that contains the code for cells to make the spike protein to the virus that will help create antibodies to attack it. The next key ingredient on the list is the lipid molecule, a small ball of fat, that contains four components. Some of the components, like cholesterol, are natural to the body.

Others, like the polyethylene glycol, are not. PEG is used in a range of pharma- ceutical, cosmetic and food products, according to FullFact.org, a company from England that fact- checks false or misleading claims. The lipid molecule protects the mRNA. Without it, the mRNA would be broken down inside the body before de- livering the genetic code to the cell. This protective ball of fat is fragile, which is why the vaccines have to be stored at subzero temperatures.

The list of salts may seem like com- plicated chemicals, but Heinz said they are variants of salt natural to the body that keep the pH the acidity or basic- ity of a solution balanced. Before the vaccine is injected, health care providers add an extra 2.16 mg of sodium chloride per dose. The addi- tional salt is meant to further balance the pH right before injection. a lot of Heinz said. vaccines take a lot of Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Founda- tion for Ethics, Innovation and Compe- tition in Healthcare.

The Masimo Foun- dation does not provide editorial input. Vaccine ingredients use complicated chemistry Sodium chloride is measured to be added to ready the COVID-19 vaccine for injection. VICTORIA Adrianna Rodriguez USA TODAY An expert panel of doctors tracked and analyzed patient safety data from thousands of hospitals across the country and graded them in a report re- leased Monday. The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade assigns letter grades through fo- cusing on how well hospitals protect patients from preventable errors, acci- dents, injuries and infections. see in the news every day the extraordinary courage of clinicians and caring for patients stricken by CO- Leah Binder, president and CEO of The Leapfrog Group, said in a press release.

less apparent yet equally laudable are the untold ef- forts behind the scenes to protect pa- More than 2,600 general acute-care hospitals were graded. According to the report, of hospitals were graded were were were and fewer than were The results fall far from fall 2019 results, where of hospitals re- ceived an got and got Fall 2020 results are based on 2019 data, and fall 2019 results are based on 2018 data. Maine, Idaho, Delaware, Massachu- setts and Oregon had the highest per- centages of hospitals in the country in the fall 2020 report. There were no hospitals in Alaska, South Dakota and North Dakota, similarly to the fall 2019 report. While results from the two reports seem similar, Binder said she has seen hospitals improve on an individual lev- el.

In the past years, she estimates hospitals have seen up to a im- provement in hospital-acquired infec- tions. we see is a pattern of im- she said. see hospi- tals all the time who are a and then six months later an The Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade methodology has been peer reviewed and published in the Journal of Patient Safety. An expert panel selected 28 measures of patient safety and places them into one of two domains: Structural Measures and Outcome Measures. Process measures represent how of- ten a hospital gives patients recom- mended treatment for a given medical condition or procedure and structural measures represent the environment in which patients receive care.

Outcome measures represent what happens to a patient while receiving care. Grades can be found on the safety grade website, www.hospitalsafety- grade.org. Patients can search for their hospital by name, city, state or ZIP code. Hospitals that do not appear on the website were not graded because they were missing more than seven process measures or more than outcome measures. The report include military or VA hospitals, critical care access hospitals, specialty hospitals, chil- hospitals or outpatient surgery centers.

Health and patient safety coverage at USA TODAY is made possible in part by a grant from the Masimo Founda- tion for Ethics, Innovation and Compe- tition in Healthcare. The Masimo Foun- dation does not provide editorial input. How safe are hospitals? Report assigns grades More than 2,600 general acute-care hospitals were graded in the latest Leapfrog Hospital Safety Grade report. ROBERT F. FILE Adrianna Rodriguez USA TODAY.