Vaccine A Hot Topic At Barbershop

Two city Health Department nurses set up class in a barbershop. The topic at hand — Why should we trust the Covid-19 vaccine? — elicited straight talk about why people choose to remain unvaccinated.

The Health Department’s Clinic Charge Nurse (RN) Robb Blocker and Clinical Director Stacey Hutcherson stopped into Transformerz at 1440 Whalley Ave. Friday for the informal dialogue around the Covid vaccine, barbershop style, as New Haven continues its ​“ground game” of reaching the wary unvaccinated one by one now that demand has peaked and mass clinics have closed.

The shop had a full house of customers in chairs getting shape-ups and others waiting for fresh cuts. The Covid conversation ensued over the buzzing of clippers, music playing quietly in the background, and children’s giggles and chatter in the waiting area.

Transformerz owner Majesty Whitaker has been a friend of Blocker for more than ten years. In the comfort of the group’s ​“second home,” the nurses answered questions about how the vaccine was made, the varying effects of getting Covid, and how the vaccine can help.

Meanwhile, a health department mobile clinic bus was parked outside of the barbershop for New Haveners to get vaccinated. The two-hour discussion didn’t persuade any community members to get vaccinated at the event. Customers and barbers aired their concerns openly and took in the responses; some claimed afterwards that they are closer to considering getting the vaccine in the future.

Before the Friday discussion Transformerz barber Jay Newt was set on getting the vaccine two to three years from now, he said. After being swayed by the information provided by Hutcherson and Blocker, Newt said, he shortened that timeline to two to three months.

Newt and his household all caught Covid last year. which caused him to temporarily lose his sense of taste and smell. ​“I thought since I had it that meant my body could fight it off and so I wouldn’t need the vaccine,” he said.

“It meant a lot that they came here, because they didn’t come for a big crowd or anything. Just us,” he said. ​“I felt I could trust what they were saying because it was like my uncle was giving me advice.”

While brainstorming about how to reach the community, Blocker and Hutcherson thought about community hubs like the barbershop. ​“This is what we’d do at the barbershop anyway,” said Hutcherson. (Click here for info about the Health Department’s future vaccine clinics.)

“We wanted to reach out and educate not just do a pop-up without interacting with the community,” said Blocker.

The community health nurses started the discussion by hearing the stories of some barbers who caught and recovered from Covid.

Transformerz barber Angel Lugo hoped the Friday discussion would convince some of his co-workers to also get vaccinated. ​“I wish more people understood that it’s not just you, it’s everyone around you that’s affected by your stubbornness,” he said.

During the discussion Lugo told the group about his experience getting infected with Covid. Lugo was asymptomatic when diagnosed last October. He and ten other friends caught Covid while at a party. ​“It scared me, because we all had very different symptoms,” he said.

While Lugo had no symptoms, his friends dealt with loss of taste and smell, fevers, vomiting, and breathing problems, even after recovery.

After recovering, Lugo decided to get vaccinated to keep his child safe as well as his grandmother, who watches his kid. ​“If they get sick, my whole life gets turned upside down,” he said. He added that he wanted to keep safe his close friend who cuts hair in the chair next to his every day and his pregnant wife at home.

Despite asking several questions during the group discussion, a Transformerz hair stylist was still not convinced to get the vaccine Friday. ​“There’s a history with the government and my people,” the stylist said.

“Why do you still need the vaccine if you’ve had Covid already?” the stylist asked.

Blocker told the stylist that getting vaccinated is a safer way to build protection than getting infected. He added that the antibodies your body naturally fights the Covid infection last only a limited amount of time.

“Although unlikely, if you get Covid after getting the vaccine, you won’t be in the hospital forever, because it won’t be severe and it will help you to recover,” Blocker responded to the stylist’s question.

The stylist said she refuses to get the vaccine because she doesn’t trust the government, doesn’t know the long-term effects of the vaccine, and doesn’t understand why someone would need the vaccine if they were ​“strong enough to fight Covid the first time.”

The stylist caught Covid in January this year and dealt with mild cold-like symptoms. ​“I’d rather take the chance of catching it again than inject myself with something that I don’t know what it is,” she said.

The stylist said she would consider getting the vaccine some years from now after more research is done about the long-term effects. ​“I’d rather give them time to straighten the kinks out,” she said. ​“There’s too many red flags.”

Hutcherson and Blocker also stopped by to inform the community that the Health Department will return to providing routine childhood immunizations in addition to the Covid vaccine.

Whitaker opened shop 10 years ago. He has been a barber for 30 years.

Although Whitaker isn’t ready to get the vaccine yet himself, he said, he invited Hutcherson and Blocker to his shop to tackle others’ skepticism due to misinformation.

“I don’t want my opinion to be everyone’s opinion,” Whitaker said.

Whitaker said he is in no rush to get vaccinated. Due to his decades of barbering and hands-on work with the community, he believes his body has a strong immune system that can fight off most anything. ​“Barbers of all people our immune systems are different from everybody else’s,” he said. ​“Before we even knew about a Covid, we was getting all kind of shit from people that they ain’t tell us about.”

“How would that impact your family if you got really really sick?” Hutcherson asked Whitaker.

Whitaker said he hasn’t taken a flu vaccine since he was a minor and he very rarely takes medicine to allow his body to naturally fight off the sicknesses.

“I feel like the minute I go volunteering to take this shot, it’s going to start triggering shit inside of my old ass, and stuff is going to happen,” Whitaker said.

After the group discussion Whitaker cut Scott Martin’s hair. Martin has been a customer of his for the past 22 years. Martin said golf courses, cigar lounges, and barbershops are where ​“the truth comes out.”

“Barbers are the last link and leg to the community. We educate the kids and build up the community everyday,” Whitaker said.

After the group discussion inside the barbershop, Hutcherson, Blocker, and the Health Department’s Ryan White Program Program Director Tom Butcher talked with international hip-hop dancer Bobby Mileage about Mileage’s reasons for getting the vaccine, which narrowed down to his dedication to ​“taking care of my community and respecting the people around us.” Mileage shared the experiences of his friends from around the world in places like Japan, China, and Italy. ​“There’s a difference in culture and what respect is. It’s not selfish in other places or about freedom. They believe in taking care of each other to reduce the safety risk,” Mileage said.

Hutcherson and Blocker provided the barbershop with a box of digital thermometers, which Whitaker distributed to customers throughout the day.

“If no one wants to get vaccinated, they should at least get tested,” said Blocker.