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HBCU Leaders Are Urging Black And Brown People To Join COVID-19 Vaccine Trials

Xavier University of Louisiana

COVID-19 vaccine trials are underway in Louisiana, but there’s a national concern that these clinical trials won’t reflect the country’s racial and ethnic make-up.

That’s especially problematic given that COVID-19 has disproportionately infected and killed Black and Latino people — and it’s prompted the presidents of both Dillard and Xavier universities to participate in a Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine trial run by Ochsner. They also released a joint letter urging more racial and ethnic minorities to sign up.

For more, reporter Rosemary Westwood spoke with C. Reynold Verret, the president of Xavier University.

Copyright 2021 WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio. To see more, visit WWNO - New Orleans Public Radio.

Rosemary Westwood is the public reporter for WWNO/WRKF. She was previously a freelance writer specializing in gender and reproductive rights, a radio producer, columnist, magazine writer and podcast host.
Rosemary Westwood
Rosemary Westwood is the public and reproductive health reporter for WWNO/WRKF. She was previously a freelance writer specializing in gender and reproductive rights, a radio producer, columnist, magazine writer and podcast host.