CoVPN team leads campaign to ensure diversity in COVID-19 vaccine trials

In July 2020, the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health, announced that the COVID-19 Prevention Network, or CoVPN, would run five Phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine trials and that its operations center would be headquartered at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Dr. Larry Corey and the CoVPN team are building on the expertise and infrastructure of the Hutch-based HIV Vaccine Trials Network along with three other NIAID-funded clinical trials networks — the HIV Prevention Trials Network, the AIDS Clinical Trials Group and the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium — in a national collaboration that brings together top academic research institutions, pharmaceutical and biotech companies and the U.S. government to speed the development of vaccines to prevent coronavirus infection.

Since that initial announcement, three trials are up and running — and recruiting the thousands of people needed to ensure the safety and efficacy of COVID-19 vaccines.

These efforts have been supported by an extensive media campaign to get the word out and, specifically, drive conversations and awareness about the importance of diversity and inclusive participation in these trials. The CoVPN team has engaged in many community-based efforts to reach people directly. These efforts include a faith initiative, a national ad campaign and input from community working groups, community advisory boards, and expert panels, which advise on everything from trial design, clinical trial protocols and materials for the over 100 clinical trial sites.

Here is an overview of the efforts by Fred Hutch’s CoVPN team to drive the project forward.

• Push is underway to test COVID-19 vaccines in diverse groups — Associated Press, Sept. 18, 2020
  “We’re not trying to twist anybody’s arm,” said the Rev. Edwin Sanders II, CoVPN faith initiative lead, about recruitment for COVID-19 trials. “We’re trying to change consciousness and change mindset. It’s not a quick fix.”
• New ads urge minorities to participate in coronavirus vaccine trials — NBC News, Sept. 10, 2020
  Corey emphasized that “it’s imperative that these vaccine trials are allowed to be conducted at the highest scientific standards and are inclusive of the people who have been most impacted by COVID-19.”
• New ads encourage minorities to roll up their sleeves and participate in coronavirus vaccine trials — CNN, Sept. 8, 2020
  Corey discussed the purpose of the CoVPN’s national ad campaign: “Not everybody is thinking about how they could play a role in ending the pandemic. The point of any advertising is to reveal options, to reveal choices."
• Why volunteer for a vaccine clinical trial? Duty, love and a willingness to experiment, participants say — USA Today, Sept. 4, 2020
  Dr. Jim Kublin, executive director of the CoVPN operations program, discussed the need for volunteers in the COVID-19 clinical trial registry. He says the vaccine trials are "a call to duty and a call to contribute to this national effort that is really the only way we're going to solve this problem."

• Global virology star Dr. Larry Corey leads the hunt for a COVID-19 vaccine — U.S. News & World Report, Aug. 14, 2020
  Corey reflected on his career and current role co-leading vaccine testing for the CoVPN. He commented, “When there's an effective vaccine, I'm going to be in line to take it."
• Do you want to be a vaccine volunteer? — New York Times, Aug. 5, 2020
  Corey explained the phases and endpoints in COVID-19 vaccine trials, saying, “Just because a vaccine has generated an immune response, doesn’t mean it was sufficient to protect anyone.”
• Q&A: Millions of volunteers needed for COVID-19 vaccine trials — Healio, July 29, 2020
  Kublin responded to questions about the vaccine trials in a Q&A. He assured readers, “Our most immediate objective is to coordinate inclusive and scientifically rigorous studies that communities trust to be safe.”
• Fred Hutch to lead COVID-19 vaccine trials — KING-TV, July 9, 2020
  Corey discussed the CoVPN, saying, "We need multiple successful vaccines to protect the entire global population from COVID-19 and stop the spread of a virus that has killed so many people.”
• Volunteers can now sign up for large coronavirus vaccine studies — Washington Post, July 8, 2020
  Corey commented on the role Fred Hutch will take in developing coronavirus vaccines, building off of work with HIV vaccines. “We have a considerable infrastructure, probably the country’s biggest infrastructure in vaccines,” he said.
• Coronavirus vaccine candidates’ pivotal U.S. testing to start this summer — Wall Street Journal, June 10, 2020
  Corey explained the COVID-19 vaccine development approach: “We will want to use the investigative resources of the country as best we can to optimize us getting an answer as quickly as possible,” he said.
• Exclusive: U.S. plans massive coronavirus vaccine testing effort to meet year-end deadline — Reuters, May 22, 2020
  Corey commented on the newly announced COVID-19 vaccine trials, saying, “Between 100,000 and 150,000 people may be enrolled in the studies.”