BAME Volunteers Needed for Vaccine Trials

People from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are being urged to sign up for coronavirus vaccine trials as these groups have been among the worst hit by the virus.

So far, only 270,000 people in the UK have put their names on the NHS Vaccine Registry, which means scientists could contact them to take part in a trial. Out of this total, only 11,000 volunteers – 4% – are from Asian communities and just 1,200 – less than 0.5% – are from black, African and Caribbean backgrounds.

Officials are now urging people from BAME communities in the UK to sign up to the vaccine registry. To make it effective, a coronavirus vaccine needs to be trialled on all parts of the population, and especially those that are in more vulnerable groups.

Infectious diseases and acute general medicine consultant, Dr Maheshi Ramasamy, who works for the Oxford Vaccine Group said, quote: “We know that people from black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds are disproportionately affected by COVID-19 in terms of severe disease and mortality. So when we do have a vaccine that we roll out to the general population, it’s really important that we can demonstrate to people from these communities that we have evidence that the vaccine works.”

For more up-to-the-minute National & International News, visit the Euro Weekly News website at https://www.euroweeklynews.com/