Vaccine frustrations from Norfolk civil rights icon: I don’t know what’s incorrect with me

PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) – They are known as the “Norfolk 17” but now there are only nine left including the 76-year-old Dr. Patricia Turner.

The civil rights icon, mathematician, former nurse and veteran educator has worked in a private preschool every week since the pandemic began.

(Courtesy photo by Patricia Turner)

As a teenager, she and 16 other black students risked their lives just to go to school. 63 years later, their lives are at stake because of a novel virus that has made or killed a disproportionate number of black Americans.

In the past few weeks, Turner, who has high blood pressure, has tried unsuccessfully to get one of three vaccines into circulation in the United States.

“Nobody calls me. Nobody even contacted me. I don’t know what’s wrong with me,Turner said in a Zoom interview from her Norfolk home.

Your video call background shows a digital image of “Today I met a rainbow“Your story of breaking the color barrier to education in separated Norfolk.

(Photo: Regina Mobley / WAVY-TV)

When Turner and 16 other black kids broke the color barrier in Norfolk public schools in 1959, the 13-year-old asked the same question. What was wrong with her when classmates poked, kicked, and spat at her at Norview Junior High School?

(Courtesy photo by Patricia Turner)

Decades later, at the age of 76, Turner is trying to figure out what’s wrong with her coronavirus vaccine efforts.

(Courtesy photo by Patricia Turner)

“I registered with the health department and haven’t heard from them. [State officials] said educators go. I am still an educator. I’m co-director of Oakwood Academy, a small preschool. I said OK, I’ll go with it, ”Turner said.

“So I tried to register again but they said I was already registered but I didn’t hear anything,” she said.

Turner says she registered with CVS Pharmacy and contacted three local churches. Still, she couldn’t get a vaccine appointment.

Turner wonders if color is a factor in why she and thousands of other black residents didn’t get the shot.

“I don’t know what else to do. I’ve given my life since I was 13 years old. Now it just seems like I’ll get the bypass if it’s something I really need, ”she said.

(Courtesy photo by Patricia Turner)

According to the Virginia Department of Health dashboardSo far, an estimated 6,400 blacks have been vaccinated per 100,000 people versus an estimated 10,900 whites. The state’s population is 19.9% ​​African American.

Turner told 10 On Your Side she was ready to stand in line, even at the end of the line, to get the coronavirus vaccine.

Get the free WAVY News app, which you can download from the Appstore and Google playto stay up to date on all local news, weather and sports, live news and other live events.