In his July 4th address “The Criterion,” The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan advised all of us to not take the Covid-19 vaccine. This vaccine has made its way into the medical field and has been pushed strategically towards the marginalized communities of America, specifically Black, Brown and indigenous communities. The media has gaslit these communities as paranoid and unreasonably skeptical without fully explaining the perpetual violation of trust towards these communities by the government and various medical fields. Due to a pattern of medical abuses as far back as colonial America, there is justifiable resistance from anything that has the potential to harm us again. This vaccine is no different. Minister Farrakhan gave us a look into alternative therapies to take until a safe and effective option will be produced and vetted by some of our doctors, virologists, and epidemiologists. Some of the notable alternatives that The Minister suggested were Alpha Interferon B and Vitamin D.

In his address at the virtual Nubian Leadership Circle Conference at the end of 2020, Minister Farrakhan spoke on the importance of Vitamin D in boosting our immune system and gaining vitamins from the sun itself. He stated,
“You are already on death row and don’t even know it. So now you’re a perfect host for the Covid virus. That’s why it’s killing us. But it’s not that we don’t have the means to do that, we don’t really need the vaccine. We need more Vitamin D.”
He continued to say,
“Do you know why the virus is not hitting the Caribbean like it’s hitting America and Europe? Because we live in the sun. The Honorable Elijah Muhammad told me that in the sun there are billions of vitamins that you can’t get in anything that is created except through the sun. My teacher taught me to take a bath a least once a year in the sun. And when you’ve turned enough your body has accepted billions of vitamins into it. And when the day of disease comes the vitamins rise up to defend us against disease. That’s why in the Caribbean they’re not worried about a pandemic down there.”
These vitamins, including vitamin D, are essential for us to fight off diseases. In a 2010 study, “Vitamin D For Treatment and Prevention of Infectious Disease”, doctors wrote about Vitamin D and its benefits for certain infections and diseases. They stated:
“The link between vitamin D deficiency and susceptibility to infection has been suggested for longer than a century, with the early observation that children with nutritional rickets were more likely to experience infections of the respiratory system, leading to the coining of the phrase ‘rachitic lung’. The isolation of vitamin D3 from cod liver oil, which was used to treat tuberculosis (TB) in the 1930s, led to its widespread use in TB treatment and prevention, until the introduction of antiinfective chemotherapy in the 1950s. More recently, epidemiologic studies have demonstrated strong associations between seasonal variations in vitamin D levels and the incidence of various infectious diseases, including septic shock (3), respiratory infection, and influenza.”
Taking vitamins to boost the immune system, particularly vitamin D is a good way to fight off diseases and viruses. Instead of taking the vaccine, it would be wise of us to look into this as an alternative.

Minister Farrakhan also called for the lift of the embargo on Cuba to look into their medicines and therapies. It would be beneficial to assist in healing our communities rather than the U.S. government, with their history of medical abuses towards Black, Brown, and indigenous communities. One of these therapies is Alpha Interferon 2B. The Minister said in The Criterion,
“We want what Cuba is developing against Covid-19. We want Alpha Interferon 2B if that is what is good against Covid. We’re looking into Madagascar. We’re looking into other therapies, but we definitely will not accept your vaccine. You’ve blown it all the way around with us.”
Cuban biotech specialist Dr. Luis Herrera Martinez states that Alpha Interferon 2B “prevents aggravation and complications in patients, reaching that stage that ultimately can result in death.” While this is not a cure to the virus, it is an excellent antiviral proven to be effective at boosting the immune system. It has also been used in places like China. If other countries were providing their people with something in the absence of a vaccine that was proven to work, then why not seek to partner with them and make it more available?
Until we can access these therapies that other countries are making available to their people, the best thing that all of us can currently do while quarantining in our homes is boost our immune systems to prevent infections. We should be following the health guidelines of wearing masks, thoroughly cleaning our homes, washing our hands, and social distancing. In addition to this, the dietary guidelines of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad called How to Eat to Live have been a great proven resource to cure ailments and prevent diseases. The government’s violation of trust has proven them to be liars and bloodsuckers of marginalized communities. A rushed, half-done vaccine amid a global pandemic and a continuous racial crisis within the medical field is the last thing we need.