GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) — Amid the race to find a potential vaccine to cure COVID-19, researchers are running into a troubling roadblock.
Experts said the men and women in the black community are largely hesitant to participate in clinical trials, even though the coronavirus disproportionately kills and impacts them.
“The trust issue is the biggest factor there,” said Thomas Silvera, who is a patient advocate.
Doctors say the attitude stems from a long history of mistrust for medical professionals, dating back to the trauma Black people experienced from the Tuskegee Experiment. It’s a 40-year period when doctors used Black