Stacy M. Brown | NNPA Newswire Senior National Correspondent
Phase one of Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine distribution begins this week. For those who remain skeptical about vaccination, one high-profile medical doctor will give a day-by-day update of her experience.
Dr. Ebony J. Hilton, the medical director at GoodStock Consulting, LLC, and associate professor of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Virginia, plans to take the vaccine publicly and regularly update her health on YouTube.
“Learn from me, ask questions,” said Dr. Hilton, who is also a member of the National Newspaper Publishers Association Coronavirus Task Force. Dr. Hilton promises she’ll be transparent and answer any questions.
“We are finally, as a nation, nearing the light at the end of the tunnel,” declared Dr. Hilton who, in just four short years, graduated Magnum Cum Laude from the College of Charleston in South Carolina with three degrees, two Bachelor of Science degrees in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a Bachelor of Arts in Inorganic Chemistry.
“I’m excited about this. Many say the light is very dim. They don’t know what to trust,” Dr. Hilton further stated.
“There’s been so much misinformation from top to bottom. The pandemic is real. Over 280,000 Americans alone have lost their lives to COVID-19,” she remarked.
Dr. Hilton said the vaccine is perhaps the only hope of America returning to some normalcy. She also recognizes the reluctance of African Americans and immigrants to volunteer for vaccination.
“I know there’s a lot of doubt,” Dr. Hilton sympathized. “There are big classes of people who say, ‘can I really trust this?’ We have the African American community saying, ‘hey, wait; the government has done things to us.’
“The Tuskegee Experiment ended ten years before I was born, and we still have heavy metal laced water in Flint, Michigan, we still have not fixed,” Dr. Hilton continued.
She added that immigrants might not seek the vaccine out of fear of deportation. Others, Dr. Hilton said, mistakenly believe the coronavirus is just like the flu, and people get over it.
“As a health care provider, we owe it to people to say, ‘How do this right?” Dr. Hilton asserted. “We need truth and transparency, and it will start with me.”
Dr. Hilton concluded:
“If I take this vaccine and I show you what happens day-to-day to me and my body. If I’m having headaches and fevers, I want you to see in real-time what happens to my body as I have this injected into my body.”
Dr. Hilton is part of the Phase one vaccination because she’s a health care worker.
Those in nursing homes are also part of the initial rollout.
The second phase will consist of essential workers like teachers, grocery store employees, and others who worked in high-risk areas during the pandemic.
“So, I’m in phase one, and if you are in phase two or three, you can learn from me what it does to my body,” Dr. Hilton advised.
“I’m hoping, with that transparency, you’ll be able to make a better decision on what to do. So, join me, and I’ll be as open and honest as possible. We have one time to do this right, and I’m hoping it’s this time.”
