E-Paper
‘Very worrying’: Few UK Asian volunteers in Covid-19 vaccine trials
The highest number of non-white patients infected by the coronavirus and who died in England, are ‘British Indian’: 792, as of August 12. Indian and other non-white communities accounted for 15 per cent of the deaths in England by that date.
Indians and Asians are among those who have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus pandemic, but new figures released on Monday show that barely 3 per cent of over 1 lakh volunteers enrolled for vaccine trials come from these sections of the UK population.
A targeted campaign in Punjabi, Gujarati, Urdu, Bengali and other minority languages is to be launched to encourage more people to enrol for future trials of several vaccine candidates currently being developed in the UK.
Health officials said that researchers welcome people from all parts of society, especially those who are more likely to benefit from a vaccine, including those over 65, frontline health and social care workers, and those from Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic backgrounds.
According to Bradford-based Dinesh Saralaya, consultant respiratory physician and one of the directors of the recruitment programme, only 3 per cent Asians enrolling for the trials is “very worrying”.
“It’s very important that we dispel the myths in the Asian community that vaccines are going to be harmful. It’s perfectly safe. They are very, very closely monitored and there are very strict protocols. The standard of care is in fact better than what you would receive outside of a trial (and) the side effects are very, very minimal,” he told The Guardian.
Business secretary Alok Sharma said: “Scientists and researchers are working day and night to find a vaccine that meets the UK’s rigorous regulatory and safety standards, but they need hundreds of thousands of people of all backgrounds and ages to sign-up for studies to speed up this vital research.
“I urge everyone to play our part in the fight against coronavirus and join the 100,000 people who have already registered, so we can help save and protect millions of lives”, he added.
The highest number of non-white patients infected by the virus and who died in England, are ‘British Indian’: 792, as of August 12. Indian and other non-white communities accounted for 15 per cent of the deaths in England by that date.
Several trials in the UK are expected to begin this autumn. Launched on July 20, the Vaccine Research Registry is an online service allowing members of the public to register their interest in vaccine studies and be contacted to participate in future clinical trials.
