Covid-19: Vaccine Trials

Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon Excerpts

Wednesday 13th January 2021 Lords Chamber

Asked by

[Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon]

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of how many people from black, Asian and ethnic minority communities participated in COVID-19 vaccine trials.

[Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon (Lab)]

I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper and I declare my interests in the register.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (Lord Callanan) (Con)]

The NHS Covid-19 vaccine research registry has helped to facilitate the rapid recruitment of large numbers of people into trials. The Government have encouraged a diverse pool of people to volunteer to help researchers to better understand the effectiveness of each vaccine candidate. As of 12 January, more than 28,000 individuals from BAME communities have volunteered to take part in clinical trials.

[Baroness Lawrence of Clarendon (Lab)]

In the first wave of the pandemic and the lockdown a report stated that a high proportion of black, Asian and ethnic-minority people were dying of the virus. In the second and third lockdowns there was no mention of their effect on these communities and on the death rate. With the vaccine being rolled out, I have heard messages from the black community about their mistrust of and lack of confidence in the vaccine. I ask Her Majesty’s Government: what proportion of those taking part in the vaccine trials were black, Asian or from ethnic minorities before the rollout?