California Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling on “trusted messengers” to help build confidence and trust in COVID-19 vaccines.One of the people who answered the plea for help is Dr. David Tom Cooke, Head of General Thoracic Surgery at UC Davis Health.Cooke, a doctor who is African-American, said his community has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and is urging everyone to get vaccinated. He spoke with KCRA 3’s Brittany Johnson, urging others to take the vaccine.Q: Why did you participate in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccination trial?Dr. Cooke: I felt the need to pay said if I was going to advocate for the community, which I’m a part of, the Black community, to be participatory in clinical trials, specifically the COVID-19 clinical trial, and one day receive the vaccine, that I myself should set an example and volunteer for the clinical trial.Q: How did you feel after receiving the vaccine? Did you have any adverse reactions?Dr. Cooke: I myself had very little symptoms. I did have some muscle ache at the site of injection, and a little bit of fatigue. Perhaps it’s hard to say, because I’m always tired based on my work, but no real significant symptoms. I operate for a living. I do surgery for a living, and I did not miss work at all.Q: Although both Pfizer and Moderna report about 95% effectiveness with their vaccines, some communities remain skeptical about the timeline in which the vaccines were created. Is that a valid concern? Dr. Cooke: This is different than buying the new iPhone. The new iPhone did not go through rigorous clinical trials and testing. It may have had a prototype and then that was released to the public. This vaccine is different. If you become eligible to receive this vaccine, you are not the first to get it. In fact, there were 43,000 individuals who are participatory in the Pfizer clinical trial alone and 22,000 of which received the actual vaccine. If we looked at the Pfizer trial, about 10% of the participants in that trial, were African-American, while 25% were Hispanic background, so those are a good number of representative individuals from communities that look like our own.Q: What should people do if they have questions surrounding the vaccine?Dr. Cooke: Talk to people that you trust specifically — your physician, your doctor and have a conversation. Perhaps instead of surfing online, actually talking to your doctor and asking your doctor or your nurse practitioner physician assistant their thoughts on the vaccine and what you should do to get it.Tune in to KCRA 3 at 7 p.m. on Tuesday for a special report on vaccine skepticism.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. —
California Gov. Gavin Newsom is calling on “trusted messengers” to help build confidence and trust in COVID-19 vaccines.
One of the people who answered the plea for help is Dr. David Tom Cooke, Head of General Thoracic Surgery at UC Davis Health.
Cooke, a doctor who is African-American, said his community has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and is urging everyone to get vaccinated. He spoke with KCRA 3’s Brittany Johnson, urging others to take the vaccine.
Q: Why did you participate in Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccination trial?
Dr. Cooke: I felt the need to pay said if I was going to advocate for the community, which I’m a part of, the Black community, to be participatory in clinical trials, specifically the COVID-19 clinical trial, and one day receive the vaccine, that I myself should set an example and volunteer for the clinical trial.
Q: How did you feel after receiving the vaccine? Did you have any adverse reactions?
Dr. Cooke: I myself had very little symptoms. I did have some muscle ache at the site of injection, and a little bit of fatigue. Perhaps it’s hard to say, because I’m always tired based on my work, but no real significant symptoms. I operate for a living. I do surgery for a living, and I did not miss work at all.
Q: Although both Pfizer and Moderna report about 95% effectiveness with their vaccines, some communities remain skeptical about the timeline in which the vaccines were created. Is that a valid concern?
Dr. Cooke: This is different than buying the new iPhone. The new iPhone did not go through rigorous clinical trials and testing. It may have had a prototype and then that was released to the public. This vaccine is different. If you become eligible to receive this vaccine, you are not the first to get it. In fact, there were 43,000 individuals who are participatory in the Pfizer clinical trial alone and 22,000 of which received the actual vaccine. If we looked at the Pfizer trial, about 10% of the participants in that trial, were African-American, while 25% were Hispanic background, so those are a good number of representative individuals from communities that look like our own.
Q: What should people do if they have questions surrounding the vaccine?
Dr. Cooke: Talk to people that you trust specifically — your physician, your doctor and have a conversation. Perhaps instead of surfing online, actually talking to your doctor and asking your doctor or your nurse practitioner physician assistant their thoughts on the vaccine and what you should do to get it.
Tune in to KCRA 3 at 7 p.m. on Tuesday for a special report on vaccine skepticism.