Britain encourages at-risk groups to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine trials

[webfact]

Britain encourages at-risk groups to sign up for COVID-19 vaccine trials

 

FILE PHOTO: A worker takes a blood sample from a man during a clinical trial of tests for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) antibodies, at Keele University, in Keele, Britain June 30, 2020. REUTERS/Carl Recine

 

LONDON (Reuters) - Britain on Monday urged elderly people and volunteers from Black and Asian minority groups to sign up to a COVID-19 vaccine trial registry to boost efforts to find a working vaccine against the disease that offers protection against higher risk groups.

 

No COVID-19 vaccine candidate has yet been proven effective against the disease, but around 20 are in clinical trials.

 

Over 100,000 people have volunteered to take part in vaccine trials, Britain's business ministry said, but more volunteers are needed to make sure candidate shots work for everyone.

 

"Protecting those at risk is the only way we will end this pandemic," said Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccines Taskforce.

 

"Getting 100,000 volunteers on board is a great start but we need many more people from many different backgrounds that we can call on for future studies if we are to find a vaccine quickly to protect those who need it."

 

The government said it was particularly keen for over 65s, frontline health and care workers and people from Black, Asian and minority ethnic backgrounds to sign up.

 

A study last week showed that minority ethnic groups were two to three times more likely to have had COVID-19 compared to white people in England.

 

Disproportionate numbers of people from minority groups have also died from the disease.

 

(Reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Christina Fincher)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2020-08-17

 

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[Bender Rodriguez]

just a thought:  people in "normal" clinical trials, you know they exclude the sick, the old, the one's with chronic diseases...

 

tell me you knew that, right ?

[chrisinth]

Hopefully, this isn't a big risk for the at-risk groups. The last thing any country needs while testing an unknown vaccine is for any sort of side effects happening to an already lower resistant caste of society.

 

I'm just throwing that out there, but hoping all is well.

[Pedrogaz]

I'm in the high risk group, old, obese, diabetic....but I won't be signing up for any studies. I see the pharmaceutical companies have got a get out of jail free card meaning they won't have to pay any damages if it all goes horribly wrong and people get devastating illnesses from the vaccine.

I will just be very careful. I choose less crowded shops on less crowded days of the week and wear a mask every time I am out. I do socialise in small groups but have cut way back, once a week no more. I have not been to a restaurant or bar in 3 months or more, not have I travelled outside of my own town. 

[sawadee1947]

14 hours ago, webfact said:

The government said it was particularly keen for over 65s

Perfect idea. If the vaccine got too many side effects or won't work..... who cares? 

At the end they would die soon anyway. 

From corona or something else. 

The sooner the better. Saves taxpayer's money. 

Good job, Bojo! ????????

[oompie69]

This will not end well. Yellow Fever vaccine  and exclusion for over 60s comes to mind. There is a very good reason people 60 years and older are not required to get a vaccine for Yellow Fever.

How many will have to die after volunteering to be guinea pigs for this attempted vaccine before this applies to this flu vaccine? I, for one, will not be prepared to do this. There are more than enough prisoners serving life sentences for capital crimes in jails in Western countries who could perhaps be asked to take part. Reduction of sentence could be a nice attractive incentive, and the researchers would probably get a good representative study cohort to experiment with.

Eastern Hemisphere countries do not seem to have a problem finding enough "volunteers", though. I wonder what they are offering?