The Yale School of Medicine says it will prioritize diverse and underserved communities as it conducts Covid-19 vaccine trials.
Reverend Leroy Perry works with Yale as a cultural ambassador to underserved communities. He says they’ve been meeting with community leaders, church officials and others via Zoom to encourage people to participate in vaccine trials.
“African-Americans and people of color are disproportionately left out of many of these studies, and are disproportionately affected by Covid, for example”, he said.
Black and Hispanic Americans have much higher risks of developing Covid-19 than white Americans. Yale doctors say some vaccines may be more effective than others among certain groups.
As many as 150 vaccines are in development, and dozens are in clinical trials. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal called on the Senate to adopt House Democrats’ Covid-19 funding plan with increased research money for vaccine development.
