The Simple Path To More Diversity In Vaccine Clinical Research

JAMA Network Open published an analysis of 230 U.S.-based vaccine trials conducted from July 2011 through June 2020.¹ Most analyzed trials did not report demographics for the nearly 220,000 total participants, but those that did had underrepresented racial and ethnic minorities. Notably, white people accounted for roughly 78% of all participants, but Black/African Americans accounted only for 11%, Hispanics/Latinos for 12%, and American Indians/Alaska Natives for just 0.4%. The COVID-19 pandemic showed why the lack of representation in vaccine clinical research is a pressing issue. According to Clinical Infectious Diseases, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that African Americans made up 21.8% and Latinx people made up 33.8% of COVID-19 cases in the U.S., even though these groups only constitute 13% and 18% of the country’s total population, respectively.²

The data from both reports indicate we are underprepared and underequipped to protect traditionally underserved swaths of the population from the threat of vaccine-preventable diseases. However, the problem of diversity in vaccine research isn’t just about making sure vaccines are safe and effective for people of all races and ethnicities.