by Sally James
South Seattle is among places in the United States where researchers are hoping to recruit volunteers for one study of a potential vaccine against COVID-19.
South Seattle zip codes include a more diverse population than in some other sectors of the greater-Seattle area. The pandemic has hit Black and Latinx populations harder than white populations across the country. According to figures from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Black population is about 13% of the United States, but Black people make up 25% of deaths from COVID-19.
Lead researcher Lisa Jackson, MD, MPH talked to the Emerald about outreach efforts in an interview about the vaccine she is studying, sometimes called the Moderna vaccine (named for the company that co-developed it with the National Institutes of Health). She works for the Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute (KPWHRI).
The researchers hope to recruit people from African American, Latinx, and Indigenous populations, as well as other ethnicities. Historically, medical research studies have often been overwhelmingly white.
Continue reading New Pandemic Vaccine Could Emerge From Seattle, Here’s How You Can Help