Detroit remains far behind in reaching vaccination goal. One problem? Young people. – Detroit Free Press

On a recent muggy Sunday evening, four Detroiters decided it was time to hang out again downtown.

Khadeeja Abdulrafee, Aminah Doukoure, Santonio Williams and Steven Pharker, who had been friends for years,believed it would be a great day to party in the streets becauseeveryone was off workthe next day,Labor Day. While they walked up alongsideGreektown Casino, thepackall smiles, laughter and chatting while drinking alcohol disguised in traveling cupsseemed to have a lot in common.

That is,except one thing: the COVID-19 vaccine.

I feel like you're compromising your body itself with getting the vaccine, Williams, 29, said to the group. You never had that vaccine before now so whatever they are putting in thatmedicine has never entered your body."

Pharker, 30, who is vaccinated,replied to Williams: So you dont think its safe?

No,I do not, Williams and Abdulrafee said inunison.

Despite widespread efforts to vaccinate Detroiters against the coronavirus, young people remain divided over the issue among even close friends, keeping the city far behind its goal.

More than 43% of eligible Detroit residentshave received at leastone vaccinedose, but that figure trailssurrounding suburban counties and the state as a whole by significant margins.The citys older population those between ages65 and74 has the best performance, with nearly 70%notching their first dose. So it's much younger people, especially those in their teens and 20s, who have fallen far behind,keeping the city's overall progress depressed, city records show.

We want to reach 70% of community immunity and we just arent there yet,said Denise Fair, chief health officer of the Detroit Health Department.

There are about 106,000 out of 639,111 residents in the city who are in their 20s.Less than one out of every five of them have been vaccinated. The ages 12 through 15 setis bringing up the rear with the lowest vaccination rate,though vaccines were only authorized for the younger group in May.

Fear is keeping some like 29-year-old Abdulrafee from the vaccine, saying they don't trust the long-term side effects.

"In the long run, I think something is going to happen to people who took the vaccine, said Abdulrafee, who works as a postal carrier. "Unless my job forces me to get it, I'm not getting it.Keeping my job to support my family is the only way that I would be willing to put myself at risk and take this vaccine."

Abdul El-Sayed, an epidemiologist and former Michigan gubernatorial candidate who served as the city's health director,said despite the anxiety among some about the new vaccine, the underlying sciencehas a long history.

I remember reading about it when I was in medical school. You think about the hundreds of millions of people whove been vaccinated. Weve been closely watching the side-effect profile. These are probably some of the best vaccines that are understood right now, El-Sayed said.

Part of the challenge may be that the city government itself doesn't have a vaccine mandate.About 9,000 people work for the city and are not currently required to be vaccinated, according to John Roach, spokesperson for the mayor's office. But they are required to be tested every other week.

Another hurdle for public officials is convincing a generation once largely immune from the worst of COVID-19 that they are now at greater risk.

About 18 months ago, younger people were not getting COVID. It was the older generation, Fair said. Younger people felt they were invincible because they are healthy, they dont have as many chronic diseases. We are intentional about meeting them where they are and that, yes they too can get COVID."

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Fair also wants to highlight the experience of other youngpeople like 18-year-old Jordan Banks. In an interview, Banks said she, unlike many other people her age, chose to get vaccinated because she knows all too well that COVID-19 is real regardless of how old you are.

"I actually caught COVID last December" said Banks."I was in the house for a whole week and I could not do anything. I was scared and.... I didn't receive a sense of calmness until I recovered from it."

Greater serenity for Banks came inApril when she got her Pfizervaccine.

"The real relief came when they created the vaccine and I got it just for that," she said."And after the shot, I was relieved to be able to go out and do what I needed to do and feel some sense of protection."

Fair said the city expanded drive-through options to catch all young people where they are at churches, bars, restaurants, parksand even their homes.More than 1,500 appointments forvaccinations have already been made. Anyone can make an appointment by calling 313-230-0505.

"We knocked on over 300,000doors in the community, letting Detroiters know about the importance of the vaccineand where to get it," Fair said.

The city is attempting to reach younger crowds where they spend a lot of their time. The health department launched a social media campaign available either through TikTok or Instagram Reel where locals can create educational videos about the vaccine and staying safe from COVID-19 through a song, dance, skit, interview or any othercreative form. The winner will be featured on a billboard. Entries are limited to ages 13-29 and must include"#LetsGetReal" in the video and caption and tag @Dethealth.

We definitely see the strengths of the social media aspect of it," said Roshanak Mehdipanah, assistant professor of public health and urban researcher at the University of Michigan. "I think with COVID, TikTok has taken off to a whole different level so anything to try to get people motivated, to try to get people informed about it, thats really helpful.

Mehdipanah added that it's important to havecommunity members going out to these homes and having a conversation with individuals, and giving people an opportunity to ask questions.

However, more needs to be done. El-Sayed said theres a level ofinvincibility among the younger crowd that can behard to overcome.Whileincentives have been effectiveto boost numbers,he said,the effect eventually wears off.

"Mandates we've seen are probably the most important and valuable thing. While we have had real mandates at the level of businesses and employees, we havent seen much consumer-oriented vaccine mandates," El-Sayed said.

To boost vaccinations, El-Sayed highlightedFrance's mandates, which involvedtightening pandemic restrictions by requiring vaccinations or negative COVID-19 tests to enter businesses or events. Doing so led to 800,000 shots in a day.

He added that with a newmandatefrom President Joe Biden targetinglarge employers, "I think theres going to be a lot of smaller businesses following suit because theres a precedent."

Biden also proposed that employers offer paid time off for employees to get vaccinated, which El-Sayed applauded as a difference-maker.

ForTiba Robinson, a 46-year-old city employee who avoided the vaccine until recently, getting the shotdidn't feel like achoice.

I had to get vaccinated because my job demanded it," said Robinson, who is also a Detroit influencer and event promoter,

It was like, 'do I want to keep my job and continue living my comfortable lifestyle?'"Robinson said, while celebrating his 20-year anniversary of #HushSignatureSundays at Floods Bar & Grille in Detroit. It was basically either I get vaccinated or I have to take a COVID test every Monday to keep my job. And who wants to keep getting that swab up their nose?

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Vicki Kovariis leadingthe city's effort to dispatchcanvassers armed witheducational postcards and text messagesintothe crowdswho may beuncertain about the vaccine.

"We're really trying to get people to feel more comfortable," Kovari said in an interview. "Thats our main target right now, people who are just not sure."

ForAntoinette White on the city's east side, the effort may not make a difference.

"Every day, I turn on the news and I'm constantly hearing something about this vaccine," said White, 33. "Like, over time, it loses its effectiveness and you'll need another dose and even if you are vaccinated, the person may still get sickor after being vaccinated, someone suddenly passed away.

"Why would I go put this in my body?How is this vaccine more beneficial to me than whatever I have been doing within the last year and a half?"

But more information may convince Abdulrafee, who goes by the name KD FYA as a Detroit rap artist, into a change of heart.

She said she hasn'treceived any literature about the vaccine from the city,nor has anyone knocked on the door of her west-side home. However, she said it is possible more educationcould sway her into getting the vaccine if she believed the information to be "credible."

That's part of the reason Kovari's goal is to educate residents through individual appointments and greater access to the vaccine. The biggest challenge canvassers faceis with the younger crowd and theirlack of urgency, Kovari said.

Of the people who haveresponded to neighborhood canvassers, more than one third say theyhave already been vaccinated or have an appointmentto do so.Of the remaining majority,about40% said theyare uncertainabout what course they will take.

"But in the last month, the city saw an uptick inappointments after schools required vaccinations," Kovari added.

Tristan Taylor, 28, an organizer with the protest group Detroit Will Breathe, said he encourages people in his age rangeto get the vaccine like he did.

Taylor believes it's a "combination of uncertainty and distrust of the science behind it."

Taylor said specificallyfor the younger group, they feel that they're being used more just to stop the spread of the virus withno concern for what can happen to them if they take the vaccine.

Abdulrafee, who had COVID-19 with onlymilder symptoms, said she is just going to trust God who may have brought the disease to the world for a purpose.She'll also take her chances without the vaccine, despite growing entreaties from city officials about the dangers to her age group.

"Some people are going to get the virus and some aren't and I just pray that neither myself or anyone in my family gets it," she said. "And I just keep moving on with my life because this virus is not going to scare me into doing stuff to my body where I don't really know what is going to happen to me."

Text your ZIP code to 438829.Youll receive an immediate response with a list of vaccination sites in your area, a number you can call if you need more help, and information on how you might get a free ride to the location using Uber or Lyft.

Search for vaccine locations by ZIP code.https://www.vaccines.gov/search/.

The Detroit Free Press is conductinga surveyas part of this project on vaccine hesitancy. This survey will take less than 2 minutes to complete. It is anonymous unless you choose otherwise; sharing your email address is optional.

Contact Dana Afana: dafana@freepress.com. Follow her on Twitter at @DanaAfana

Contact Jasmin Barmore:jmbarmore@freepress.com. Follow her onInstagram or Twitter at @bjasminmarie.

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Detroit remains far behind in reaching vaccination goal. One problem? Young people. - Detroit Free Press