18 | November 2020 HEALTH
As Clinical Trials Halt, U.S. Covid Cases Surge
contract the virus are known in just 52 percent of cases, 7 of the 10 U.S. counNNPA Newswire ties with the highest death rates from COVID-19 have populations where li Lilly recently announced that people of color make up the majority, acit would pause a government- cording to data compiled by USA Today. sponsored COVID-19 cliniOf the top 50 counties with the highcal trial because of a potential safety est death rates, 31 are populated mostly concern. by people of color. The drug manufacturer did not spec“Put simply, America’s history of racify the concern, but the experimental ism was itself a preexisting condition,” vaccine is reportedly similar to the one study authors wrote for USA Today. President Donald Trump has claimed Additionally, one report noted that cured him of the coronavirus. had African Americans died at the same Earlier, Johnson & Johnson put the rate as whites; approximately 20,800 brakes on a COVID-19 vaccine trial af- Black people would still be alive. ter the company noted an “unexplained Dr. James Hildreth, the president of illness” reported by a participant. the historically Black Meharry Medical I n C ol le g e i n S e p t e m b e r, Nashville, Great Britain Tennessee, told officials held the Black Press off on a pothat his school “By engaging with the four tential vaccine is among four when a particiHBCUs preBlack medical schools, pant reported paring to host [participants] will have a concerning on c a mpu s reaction. individuals who look like them, C O V I D -19 The difficulclinical trials. sitting across the table, having ty in producDr. Hildreth ing a vaccine these conversations, and we previously adfor the deadly vised against think that’s going to make a virus comes as any vaccine huge difference.” a new wave of touted by C OV I D -19 Trump, where infection has t he presibegun. dent exclaimed would be ready before Data provided by Johns Hopkins Election Day. University in Maryland revealed that “It’s true that Black people have little the U.S. surpassed 51,000 new daily trust in clinical trials, and that’s undercases on Oct. 13, marking the first time standable,” Dr. Hildreth stressed. “We’ve in over two months that the number engendered a level of trust with commuexceeded 50,000. nities of color that other organizations The average daily number of new cases just don’t have, and it’s imperative for stands at 48 percent higher than two us as HBCUs to rise to this occasion.” months ago when 34,354 were reported. Dr. Hildreth noted that Meharry’s More than 36,000 COVID-19 pa- trial would feature a vaccine made by tients were hospitalized on Oct. 13, the Novavax. highest number recorded since August. “I’ll be the first patient,” Dr. Hildreth Statistics from the Centers for Disease said, again punctuating the trust that’s Control and Prevention reveal that needed to secure African American African Americans remain three times participants. as likely as whites to contract the coro“By engaging with the four Black navirus, five times as likely to end up in medical schools, [participants] will have the hospital, and twice as likely to die individuals who look like them, sitting from COVID-19. across the table, having these conversaWhile the race and tions, and we think that’s going to make e t h n i c i t y o f a huge difference.” t hose who By Stacy M. Brown
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