Newark Mayor Says Coronavirus Vaccine Trial Causing Fear In City

NEWARK, NJ — Everyone wants a coronavirus vaccine to become reality. But testing them out? That’s where a big roadblock – fear – comes into the picture.

Especially if you’re a person of color, some Newark residents say.

A national clinical study on mRNA-1273, one of a long list of vaccine candidates against COVID-19, is taking place at 89 sites across the country. New Jersey locations include a trial in Newark being run by Rutgers New Jersey Medical School and University Hospital, and another at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Other trials will be taking place at health centers and hospitals in suburbs and cities across the U.S. See a list of participating locations and learn more about the study here.

Newark Mayor Ras Baraka said people have the right to be “skeptical and cautious” about vaccines and clinical trials due to unethical practices that have transpired around the world throughout history – especially involving people of color.

As an example, Baraka referenced the Tuskegee Syphilis Study, a 40-year experiment conducted by the U.S. Public Health Service that involved hundreds of Black men in Alabama. The participants were never told they were infected with a potentially deadly disease, and were never given proper medical treatment. It ended in 1972, and has since become one of the most infamous examples of medical ethics violations in American history.

“It makes perfect sense for people to be afraid and quite frankly you have every right to be,” Baraka said. “What makes it more problematic is that African Americans and people of color have been disproportionately contracting COVID-19 and dying more rapidly than anyone else from this disease.”

• See related article: Coronavirus Hitting NJ Minority, Immigrant Communities Hard

The mRNA-1273 vaccine was co-developed by biotechnology company Moderna Inc. and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The study team is testing if mRNA-1273 can help the immune system produce effective antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus so that in case of infection, the virus doesn’t cause illness.

The vaccine can’t cause infection or make someone sick with COVID-19, researchers said.

An ongoing trial is seeking to enroll about 30,000 adult volunteers. According to Moderna, more than 17,400 participants have enrolled as of Friday.

Medical researchers are recruiting healthy volunteers ages 18 or older in high-risk populations. Researchers are reaching out to elderly people, essential workers and “racial and ethnic minorities at higher risk for the virus.”

It’s this last demographic that’s been raising concern in Newark – New Jersey’s largest city – where 36.4 percent of residents are Hispanic or Latino, and 49.7 percent are Black.

As a reader commented on our initial story about the study: “Black folks are not your f****** guinea pigs.”

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Baraka noted that the president/CEO of University Hospital, Shereef Elnahal – a person of color – has volunteered to be one of the first to get the vaccine in the Newark area, speaking volumes to his belief about it being safe for the community.

“However, the City of Newark cannot and did not authorize for any residents to partake in the research,” Baraka continued. “If you don’t want to be involved or have any uncertainty, please don’t participate. If you are considering enrolling in the clinical trial, gather as much information as you can and inquire about how it can affect you. The trial is 100 percent voluntary and you have the right to say no.”

The mayor concluded:

Elnahal also released a statement about the study on Monday, writing that the hospital was "proud" to bring the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial to North Jersey.

"As the mayor mentioned, this trial is not exclusive to Newark or Black or Latino communities—more than 90 hospitals and trial sites throughout the country are enrolling participants," Elnahal said.

"As a hospital for one of the hardest hit communities in the world, we have been working on the front lines to save lives every day and know first-hand the destruction wrought by COVID-19," Elnahal added. "And unfortunately, the people impacted most in our community and across America—both in contracting the disease and in experiencing negative outcomes—have been people of color."

Elnahal continued:

According to Elnahal, the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trial upholds bioethical standards because:

• "All enrolled participants must provide informed consent"

• "This informed consent can be revoked at any time, without repercussion and even if against the advice of the patient’s physician"

• "At all times, participants will be provided with a detailed account of any possible side effects and potential benefits as they become known"

• "This trial went through a full ethics review and meets international research standards for ethical research"

"We are confident in the safety data determined to date and the protocols in place," Elnahal said. "To that end, I have enrolled myself in the vaccine trial, and am being screened for participation today."

NJMS and University Hospital aren't the only Newark medical researchers probing possible treatments for the coronavirus.

In April, Saint Michael's Medical Center announced it was among a handful in the world that would be giving some COVID-19 infected patients Remdesivir, an antiviral drug originally developed by Gilead Sciences to treat Ebola.

• See related article: Newark Hospital Gives 'Promising' Coronavirus Drug A Chance

• See related article: Doctors On The Front Lines Are Testing New Therapies To Treat Coronavirus

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This article originally appeared on the Newark Patch