SDABJ Holds Panel Debunking COVID Myths

By Voice & Viewpoint Staff

The San Diego Association of Black Journalists (SDABJ) hosted a virtual discussion regarding COVID-19 and it’s related vaccines last Wednesday, September 22. The goal of the panel was to debunk common misconceptions and myths about COVID and the vaccine, aimed specifically to speak to San Diego’s Black community.

Hosted by Angela DeJoseph, Vice President of the SDABJ, the panel featured five local Black doctors to discuss the facts and fictions regarding COVID. The five doctors were the director of the Alliance Health Clinic Dr. Suzanne Afflalo, Dr. Robert Gillepsie, a cardiologist with SHARP Healthcare, President and Chairman of the Multicultural Health Foundation Dr. Rodney Hood, 79th District Assemblymember Dr. Akilah Weber, and Dr. Wilma Wooten, a public health officer and Director of Public Health Services in San Diego County.

Lauren J. Mack, a reporter with the San Diego Union Tribune, and Natay Holmes, a reporter at ABC10 news, both moderated the panel and asked questions of the five doctors. Questions ranged from “Is the vaccine safe for pregnant people?” to “How does the vaccine protect me against COVID19?”. The main questions concerned vaccine hesitancy among the San Diego community.

Dr. Wilma Wooten reminded viewers that, “no vaccine is ever 100 percent effective.” She remarked, “Even if you are vaccinated, your chances of becoming infected, getting hospitalized, and even dying is far, far less than those same events occurring in individuals who are not vaccinated.”

Wooten went on to reference a study done in Los Angeles that showed fully vaccinated people are five times less likely to become infected with COVID-19...

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