The Pressures of Keeping Chicago Safe During COVID-19
By: Rahm Shoshana
Tags: Safety, Covid 19, Vaccine Hesitancy, Chicago, Vaccines

By Rahm Shoshana and Patrycja Guzy

Diana Bogdzia, a student at Midwestern Career College, recently got her COVID-19 vaccine due to her work mandate at Bright Light Medical Imaging.

“I actually got vaccinated because of work purposes,” she said. “I didn’t really feel the need to get the vaccination after overcoming COVID. But I also didn’t want to go through getting tested every single week and possibly not being able to go into work. So I just played it safe and got the vaccine.”

Bogdzia’s experience echoes the experience of people in Chicago who are living in the age of the COVID-19 pandemic. Some communities have faced more detrimental effects than others.

Communities in the South and West Side that are majority black have suffered a disproportionately larger number of deaths versus the rest of Chicago. 10 of 12 ZIP codes where more than half of the residents are unvaccinated are located on the South Side.

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Video: Ways to stay safe from COVID-19

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Bogdzia said she has followed COVID-19 requirements and safety precautions while working and living during the pandemic.

“Definitely made a big change in society and the whole world,” she said. “Kind of crazy that something like that can happen and that everyone can be forced to do things such as wearing a mask staying at home being mandated to get the vaccine or test to even continue working.”

Bogdzia said she thinks societal changes from the pandemic are being forced upon her, but she is compliant and listens to the rules and procedures designed to keep her and the community safe.

The challenges in the public health sector boil down to an important issue, according to Melissa Martin, the University of Illinois at Chicago COVID-19 Contact Tracing Corps Coordinator.

Martin is examining various ways to address misinformation and improve health education for the UIC and Chicago community.

“UIC is supporting the Core members that are going out and doing health, education, etc,” she said. “They’re trying to combat all of that misinformation and try to break down all of that data on the fly with each individual they talk to.”

Martin said the goal of the UIC Public Health Department is to work in tandem with the Chicago Department of Public Health (CDPH) to combat misinformation.

Martin’s team is trying to combat misinformation found on social media channels by discussing and educating health care teams, such as CDPH, students, and the public at large.

UIC’s School of Public Health website offers courses that provide free modules and resources for the public.

Melissa Martin said that ability to communicate is a must for the public health sector to inform Chicagoans about the risk of exposure to COVID-19.

In addition to combating misinformation, the public health sector’s job is to educate the community about the best health practices that everybody should take depending on their level of comfort with vaccines.

Bogdzia said her work mandates a test weekly if workers aren’t fully vaccinated. However, her work doesn’t provide on-site testing areas for COVID-19. The testing locations have to be found on employees’ own time.

“Employees can be tested and then attend work but they have to provide a religious note or something stating that they shouldn’t get the vaccine,” she said. “But also the testing is not provided through my employer, it is something we have to get done on our own and I did not want to go through with that.”

As of Nov. 18, 60.4% of all Chicago residents have a completed vaccine series, meaning they are fully vaccinated from COVID-19.

In addition, 51.6% of Chicago’s Black, non-Latinx population has received at least one dose of the Covid vaccine versus 61.6% of Latinx people, 68.5% White non-Latinx people, and 72.7% of Asian non-Latinx people.

Having accurate vaccination information keeps Chicago residents informed and safe, according to the CDPH.

Still, Dr. Molly Martin, Associate Professor of Pediatrics at the UIC College of Medicine, said there are health disparities in communities across Chicago.

“So when you think about all the things that influence COVID, more structural racism and COVID,” she said, “the access to services, the quality of services, comorbidities, distress, psychosocial stressors, differential risk, exposure, poverty factors.”

These factors influence the access that individuals have to healthcare.

According to data presented by the Chicago data portal, a map was made using the data of COVID-19 Vaccine Doses by ZIP Code. During the summer of 2021, the Illinois Comprehensive Automated Immunization Registry Exchange (I-CARE) compiled data from the Engelwood neighborhood that indicates 152 total doses per day. Rogers Park had 234 doses per day.

The Engelwood neighborhood is 94.6% black, according to 2020 census data, while the Rogers Park neighborhood is 43.9% white and 27.4% black as of 2020.

Molly Martin showed how COVID-19 and structural racism remains an issue in Chicago and the United States. The individual lifestyles of people living in their communities play a factor in how practical it is to receive a vaccine.

“Yet what people are told to do our own these individual things: sit in the chair to get the shot, stay home, be safe, wear a mask, do all these things, right?” she said. “But they’re so much of the reason that those decisions may not be possible or may not make sense.”

Individuals in economically disadvantaged communities may not have access to local pharmacies to receive vaccines or other necessary health products. People may live in areas plagued by gun violence where it is unsafe to leave their homes after the sunsets.

In addition to this economic disadvantage, vaccine hesitancy is prolific in these disadvantaged communities.

“They’re like doing everything they can to make money off us by putting this stuff here,” Molly Martin said. “And so it’s a confusing message, right that people are getting and they’re not wrong. Pfizer’s getting loaded, right, they’re getting rich.”

Companies such as Pfizer have profited massively as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. This has led communities, particularly communities of color, to distrust the government.

“But someone else whose experience has been like people just makes money off you,” Molly Martin said. “Usually at your detriment. Why would they believe that this is any different?”

Vaccine hesitancy in communities of color is prevalent because members of the community feel that they are not being heard and validated.

Ten of the 12 least vaccinated ZIP Codes in Chicago are located on the South Side, according to a Block Club Chicago article. Despite the availability of vaccines in South Side communities, including at-home vaccinations, some residents remain hesitant.

Molly Martin infers that the future of epidemics in the United States will continue long after COVID-19 is contained if it is ever contained.

A study looking into the future of COVID-19 used lessons and data gathered over the pandemic, as well as previous epidemics, to mitigate fallout and move forward with evidence-based approaches.

“So all of the structures that we’re putting into place right now are being put into place for COVID,” Molly Martin said. “But they would serve a purpose for whatever epidemic comes next, whether it’s an infectious epidemic, or if it’s diabetes or gun violence.”