How clinical trial participation could solve distrust issue around uptake of Covid-19 vaccine

Sunday, 14 March 2021 16:19

National Institute of Health Research launching encouraging ethnic minorities to join Covid-19 studies to help put their communities at ease and ensure representation for all

Vaccine researchers are calling for ethnic minority volunteers to join the NHS Vaccine Research Registry as they want communities to feel vaccines will support them because participants in studies have been like them
Only 33,566 of 452,284 of volunteers for vaccine research registry are of non-white ethnicity (7.4 per cent)
Huge concern as black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die from Covid-19 in comparison to white people
There’s a lack of confidence among ethnic minority communities in relation to receiving the vaccine, specifically among those of Asian ethnicity

Many people are relieved that there are three Covid-19 approved vaccines which are currently being rolled out among the elderly and vulnerable. However, the work is not yet done and research studies are still running while members of the public receive vaccines. Researchers are always learning more about the safety and effectiveness of vaccines, and need volunteers to help make this possible.

Different vaccines will be needed for different groups of people and as part of trials there is a real need for representation. Ethnic minority communities in particular are needed as part of the as research given that research has shown people from minority ethnic groups are at greater risk of becoming very ill with Covid-19. In particular, black men and women are nearly twice as likely to die from COVID-19 compared to white people .

However, despite these alarming statistics, only 7.4% of those part of the vaccine research registry are from ethnic minority communities. Of almost half a million (452,285) volunteers who have signed up to the registry, just 33,566 are of non-white ethnicity.

There is also concern among trust in the vaccine among ethnic minority communities as only 57% of respondents from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds were likely to accept a COVID-19 vaccine, in comparison to 79% of White respondents. Confidence was particularly low among the Asian ethnicity of whom only 55% claimed they were likely to say yes to the vaccine.

Hear Dr Dinesh Saralya, NIHR - Consultant Respiratory Physician at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (BTHFT) and Director for Bradford’s National Institute for Health Research’s Patient Recruitment Centre (PRC: Bradford). NIHR Respiratory Disorders Co-opted member - Industry Lead

Background: Dr Saralaya has played a leading role in city’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak in Bradford, as one of the Bradford Royal Infirmary’s frontline medics and has appeared on both national and local media as a key communicator informing communities how to stay safe during the pandemic.

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