HCAS Doctoral Student in NY Times Article on Covid-19 Vaccine Study in the Black Community

Darnella McGuire-Nelson, doctoral student in the Department of Conflict Resolution Studies (DCRS) in the Halmos College of Arts and Sciences and the Guy Harvey Oceanographic Research Center (HCAS), appeared in an article in the NY Times regarding the Novavax vaccine and clinical trials in the Black community. The article is entitled, “After a Rocky Start, Novavax Vaccine Could Be Here by Summer.”

McGuire-Nelson works at the US Patent and Trademark Office and heard about the clinical trials on the radio. In addition to what was included in the article, she added:

I would like to include that when going through the pre-screening process, I knew more about the research process than I thought thanks to Nova. Because I am preparing my submission to the IRB, I was able to articulate my concerns and questions before I signed the consent form.  I had so many questions, that the Principal Investigator met with me personally to address my concerns.   I had no clue that I was the first participant to sign up for the study.  I am now using this platform to inform Black communities to get vaccinated, as COVID-19 is affecting Black and Hispanic populations at disproportionate rates. I also have been asked by the Alexandria Health Department to serve as an ambassador for helping to get the word out to Black communities in the city of the importance of getting vaccinated.  Their apprehension is from the historical context of Blacks being subjected to unethical experiments by the U.S. Government.  I believe it is important for health officials to acknowledge these atrocities, listen to understand our concerns and apprehensions, and educate the community on the process and laws put in place to prevent unethical research. For me, I see my participation in this clinical trial as my contribution in moving science forward for my Black community.  If Blacks are not represented in clinical trials, how will we know if vaccines or therapies will work?

To read the article, please go to https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/health/vaccine-novavax.html