IN AN EFFORT to advance Reading’s coronavirus vaccine, a call has been put out for Black and minority ethnic (BME) volunteers.
People from all communities are being asked to take part in vaccine studies into Covid-19.
But figures from Reading show that volunteers from BME communities are underrepresented.
“Covid-19 has taken the lives of many of our population. Many of us have lost loved ones,” said Dr Kajal Patel, a GP at Milman and Kennet Surgery in neighbouring Reading.
“I would like to make a request that all Black and minority ethnic Reading residents would strongly consider joining the vaccine registry and to take part”
Without a diverse input, there is no certainty that the vaccine will work within the BME population, according to Dr Kajal.
“Please register,” she added. “Your support is needed.”
People from black communities are statistically more likely to be diagnosed with the coronavirus, according to Public Health England.
And death rates amongst black and Asian ethnic groups are higher than others.
At present, 1.19% of Covid vaccine volunteers in the Reading area are black, African, black British or Caribbean, while 6.7% of the area’s population belong to this ethnic group.
And 10.62% of registrations are comprised of Asian and Asian British volunteers, whereas 13.6% of the population belongs to this ethnic group.
“The only way to check how well a coronavirus vaccine works is to carry out large-scale clinical trials involving thousands of people,” said Kate Bingham, chair of the government’s Vaccine Taskforce.
“We want to ensure the data we get actually represents the different people from different backgrounds in the UK.”
To sign up to the NHS Covid-19 vaccine research registry, visit: www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/research/coronavirus-vaccine-research
