My Journey from Vaccine Hesitancy to Acceptance

My Journey from Vaccine Hesitancy to Acceptance As an African American healthcare professional, I felt it was my responsibility to lead the way and champion the vaccine in our community. However as a black woman, I was intimately aware of the disparities and racial biases in healthcare, and I was scared. So I did some research and satisfied my rational brain that the vaccine was safe—but my emotional heart was still not on board. One day I heard a comedian say “We drink energy drinks, and have no idea what’s in them, but we’re afraid of a vaccine developed by experts and given to hundreds of thousands of people.” Strange as it sounds, that did it for me. I thought, he’s right! My rational brain and emotional heart were finally on the same page, and I received two doses of the vaccine with no side effects.   Yvonne Carroll, RN, JD IASCNAPA Board Member Director Patient Service Hematology St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital Memphis, Tennessee, United States