Inadequate Minority Representation within SARS-CoV-2 Vaccine Trials

Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2021 Jan;104(1):32-34. doi: 10.4269/ajtmh.20-1294.

Abstract

Minority communities have borne the brunt of COVID-19 disease in the United States. Nonwhites have contracted most of the SARS-CoV-2 infections; COVID-19 mortality rates for Black Americans are more than twice those for whites. Given this, studying the most effective ways to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 in these populations should be a research priority, particularly with respect to vaccine trials. Federal guidelines from the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration emphasize the need for inclusion of minority groups in these trials, but none of the publicly available SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trial protocols requires representative sampling of minorities. This piece emphasizes the importance of adequate inclusion of minority communities in SARS-CoV-2 vaccine trials, and the implications of this inclusion for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine distribution.

MeSH terms

  • American Indian or Alaska Native
  • Black or African American
  • COVID-19 / epidemiology*
  • COVID-19 / prevention & control*
  • COVID-19 Vaccines / immunology*
  • Clinical Trials as Topic / organization & administration*
  • Clinical Trials as Topic / standards
  • Ethnicity / statistics & numerical data
  • Healthcare Disparities
  • Hispanic or Latino
  • Humans
  • Minority Groups*
  • Research Design
  • SARS-CoV-2 / immunology*
  • United States / epidemiology

Substances

  • COVID-19 Vaccines