Diversity Presents Stumbling Block to Vaccine Development

While Black, Latinx, and Indigenous populations have been some of the hardest hit during the COVID-19 pandemic, these communities are less likely to participate in the vaccine trials necessary to develop a safe and effective immunization for the novel coronavirus. United States public health officials note that a deep sense of mistrust exists among these communities due to the legacy of discrimination in public health projects, such as the Tuskegee experiments in which Black men were denied treatment for syphilis and the use of Native American people to test pharmaceuticals without their consent. The National Institutes of Health has created an initiative, Community Engagement Alliance Against COVID-19 Disparities, to create more trust between minority communities and public health. Read more here.