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Date: 4/4/2023
SPRINGFIELD — Springfield’s Commissioner of Health and Human Services Helen Caulton-Harris said much was learned during the first three years of the coronavirus pandemic, which continues to persist to this day.
Caulton-Harris made her remarks during a recent interview on “Government Matters” on Focus Springfield.
“The pandemic has taught us many lessons but the most obvious one I think is the public health infrastructure for the commonwealth of Massachusetts and local boards of health is really under-funded and fragmented. So, it’s important to me as we look forward how do we assure 351 cities and towns who must have, by Chapter 111, their own board of health how do we move forward and protect out public. The pandemic is going to have lasting impacts for years into the future. I anticipate we will see the effects in education in lost learning and social isolation as well as the virus itself still being present in our environment,” she said.
Moving forward, Caulton-Harris said it’s clear the virus will mutate again, as it has several times in the last three years and the question is if the current vaccines will prove effective in providing protection.
The biggest challenge to Caulton-Harris and her department was the changing information issued during the coronavirus pandemic. She explained, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would give information to the states which would then disseminate it to the local board of health.
She noted that her department’s challenge was keeping up with the information that was given to them. That information would change as officials learned more about the virus.
“Then at the time you had a president of the United States who was also giving information that was not correct. So, there we were combatting misinformation that was being given online, being given by our president and changing information from the CDC to the state department of Public Health. So, the shift became something I think was one of the barriers to be concrete in giving information,” she said.
Caulton-Harris added that too many times elected officials get involved in public health matters and “do not articulate the facts correctly.”
She added, “We care currently still seeing that misinformation. It is happening around vaccines. It is happening around the preventive [measures].”
She said the debate about masking was “unimaginable” to her. “Masks became political,” she added.
Springfield still has a low vaccination rate and Caulton Harris said it’s important to continue educational efforts. The city still has test kits to distribute and a vaccination program, she added.
She explained, “There are cultures, races and ethnicities that may have different thoughts about vaccinations, different thoughts about healthcare. You’ve heard over and over again about the Tuskegee experiment. You’ve heard over and over again about the distrust of the medical community. All of that really plays into whether or not individuals in our community are willing to be vaccinated.”
From 1932 to 1972, United States Public Health Service conducted a study titled “Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male.” As described by the USPHS official statement, “Participants’ informed consent was not collected. Researchers told the men they were being treated for ‘bad blood,’ a local term used to describe several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. In exchange for taking part in the study, the men received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance.”
The study continues until 1972 well after penicillin was named as the “treatment of choice” in 1943. In 1973, a class-action lawsuit was filed on behalf of the study participants and their families, resulting in a $10 million, out-of-court settlement in 1974.
“We’ve been doing everything we can get to get that vaccination rate up,” she said.
Although she does not think that vaccinations for COVID-19 will be required for school children “unless the data tells us it will be back at a pandemic level.” Recommendations to do that would come from the CDC and Food and Drug Administration, she added.
Caulton-Harris believes doctors are now routinely checking with their patients about their vaccination status for COVID-19. She doesn’t think vaccinations will be required but people need to know about their health risks as well as the other members of their household.
She expressed considerable concerns about the long-lasting mental and emotional health effects of the isolation brought by the pandemic.
“I think we are going to see the impact of this pandemic well into the future as we try to put some mitigation strategies in place,” she said.
To obtain information about the city’s services addressed COVID-19, go to springfield-ma.gov/hhs. To see the entire interview, go to focusspringfield.com.