Speaker 1: This fall as a nation continues to battle the COVID 19 pandemic, Black CEOs
and young black leaders from across the country teamed up for a series of conversations about
vaccine hesitancy and misinformation with a specific focus on questions from young people
about the vaccine.
Dr. Georges Benjamin: What we do know about vaccines is that they do really two things.
Number one, they prevent you from getting really sick and dying, which I think is probably
a good thing.
Speaker 1: That's Dr. Georges Benjamin, Executive Director of the American Public Health Association
talking with Dejah Headen about the importance of the COVID-19 vaccines, vaccine efficacy,
and the importance of wearing masks, students and teachers returned to the classroom.
Dr. Georges Benjamin: So Hi, I'm Dr. Georges Benjamin, I am the Executive Director at the
American Public Health Association. I'm a physician, both an internist and an emergency
firm doc.
Dejah Headen: My name is Dejah Headen, and I'm a first year student studying Human Biology
at North Carolina State University. All right, why should I get the COVID-19 vaccination,
if vaccinated people are still getting sick and spreading the virus?
Dr. Georges Benjamin: You know, that's a great question. And, you know, I've been practicing
medicine for a long time. And one of the things that certainly I've learned is that no single
medication is perfect. And vaccines are no exception. What we do know about vaccines
is that they do really two things. Number one, they prevent you from getting really
sick and dying, which I think is probably a good thing. And this particular COVID vaccine
does that very, very well. The second thing it does is it does dramatically reduce your
ability to get infected or to infect other people. And it turns out, the COVID vaccine
also does that really well. But not as well as it prevents you from getting real sick
and die. So that once you're vaccinated, in a small number of people, you can get infected,
and you can infect other people. But guess what, you don't stay infected very long. And
at least, that period of time in which you can affect other people. You can protect yourself
by wearing a mask to reduce that risk. And you want to ask another question be my guest.
Dejah Headan: I didn't come with any other question prepared
Dr. Georges Benajmin: Well you must want to know something!
Dejah Headan: Well, I've been vaccinated since March. So I've kind of like seen how like
the numbers have been like watching like the news and watching me and stuff. So I've been
like watching that very closely. Because I live with a high risk parent. What are the
concerns regarding that, like, is it less than because I'm vaccinated? Should I still
be more cautious?
Dr. Georges Benjamin: Well look, that's a really great question. And the short answer
to that is that the most important thing that you can do, is what you first of all, you've
already done, you've gotten yourself vaccinated. The second most important thing you can do
is make sure that your family member is also vaccinated. Unless there's some medical reason
why they can’t and by the way, the number of medical reasons why not getting vaccinated
is very, very small, so most likely they can be and of course fully vaccinated. And then
just doing the kinds of things you would normally do around the house you know washing your
hands. You know if you get ill if you get sick with any of the symptoms of COVID or
they get sick with COVID then do what you can and kind of self-isolate, protect yourself
from each other. And then of course get tested to make sure that it's not COVID and you know
we're going into cold and flu season so cold and flu season, we're going to have people
with sore throats and symptoms and sniffles and all the things that go along. That by
the way also means the signs and symptoms we COVID. So getting vaccinated in early identification
about whether or not it is COVID or not is very important. And by the way, get your both
of you get your flu shot. Dejah I want to thank you for doing this this is really really
wonderful you spend your time doing this.
Dejah Headen: Thank you, anything I can do to help get vaccinated and help get this pandemic
just get through it.
Dr. Georges Benjamin: If folks like you, they're going to help us get through this and your
an inspiration.
Dejah Headen: Thank you and thank you for all that you do. And thank you for sharing
all this information because it's very necessary that people are getting the right information.