How a Group of Black Doctors Got Philadelphia Vaccinated

Posted by Bloomberg Equality + CityLab on November 9, 2021

Earlier this year, Philadelphia’s partnership with the student-led group Philly Fighting COVID Inc. abandoned testing sites in Black neighborhoods. It seemed like the latest affront in a long legacy of racism that has fueled distrust in the medical system, dating back to the infamous Tuskegee experiments in the 1930s. But Philadelphia, after a slow start, is closing out the year with one of the highest Black vaccination rates in a major U.S. city. In Philadelphia, 54 percent of Black citizens are now vaccinated. That puts it at the top of a group of the country’s 10 most Black cities, with populations of 500,000 or more and with Black people making up anywhere from 77 percent to 28 percent of the population. (The country’s second-largest city, Los Angeles, has vaccinated 55% of its Black residents, but they’re just 8 percent of the population.)

The Black Doctors COVID-19 Consortium, a group of 50 Black health-care professionals, is a big reason Philadelphia — where Black people are 38 percent of the population — turned vaccination rates around. Doctors fanned out into hard-hit neighborhoods citywide, initially using their mobile unit to test residents. As demand grew, they worked with community leaders to set up testing sites in churches and community centers. They also conducted general health checkups, treating any ailments they could.

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