Description
The U.S. Chamber of Commerce’s Equality of Opportunity Initiative in partnership with the Chamber’s Discover & Deliver campaign, invites you to Equality of Opportunity in Action: Bridging the Racial Gap for COVID-19 Treatments and Vaccines on Tuesday, February 16 at 1:00 PM EST.
The coronavirus pandemic is our nation’s most recent reminder of how minority communities are disproportionately adversely impacted by infectious disease outbreaks. While the business community is leading the way to develop effective treatments and vaccines, the world’s premier scientists and innovative companies recognize that therapeutics must be tested across various populations. While Black Americans represent 13.4% of the U.S. population, those populations make up only 5% of overall clinical trial participants according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Diverse testing is critical in order to ensure that treatments and vaccines are truly effective for all.
Many of the innovative pharmaceutical companies in the vaccine race made a concerted effort to test the vaccines in underrepresented communities, which allowed scientists to conclude that the vaccines will be effective across diverse populations. The Chamber believes vaccines will be critical to reinvigorating the American economy and placing us on the path to our new normal. Yet, research has shown that the Black and Latinx communities remain concerned about rolling up their sleeves to receive the immunization. Building upon lessons learned from efforts to promote clinical trial diversity, this program will also discuss how the business community can work with leaders in communities of color to address vaccine hesitancy.
