New national faith-based community engagement initiative to partner with key communities around COVID-19 and CoVPN clinical trials

SEATTLE (Sept. 9, 2020) – With many communities across the U.S. disproportionately impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, the recently formed COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), has established a national, faith-based program called the CoVPN Faith Initiative to enhance trust and meaningful engagement in key communities and provide accurate and updated information about COVID-19 and CoVPN clinical trials.

Rev. Edwin C. Sanders, II, head of the Metropolitan International Church in Nashville, TN, will lead the initiative and direct seven Faith Ambassadors and more than 30 clergy-consultants from the Black, Latinx and American Indian/Alaska Native communities throughout the nation. These faith leaders are charged with implementing a nationally faith-focused COVID-19 and CoVPN education program that supports inclusive engagement of members in these communities.  

For more than 30 years, Rev. Sanders has been active in the fight against HIV/AIDS, establishing a primary clinic as part of his congregation’s outreach to provide testing, treatment, prevention services and education. He also served as the first Chair of the Legacy Project Advisory Group, a collaboration with the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), to increase involvement of African American and Latinx participants in vaccine trials. 

“Historically, there’s been a distrust of clinical research because of the exploitation and abuse of people of color,” Sanders says. “But our goal is to engage everyone, so that when a vaccine is approved, it’s effective for all people.”

Despite the alarming impact that COVID-19 has taken in these key communities, distrust in the health care system stemming from unethical research practices, notably the Tuskegee syphilis study that ended in 1972, remains a barrier that prevents many people of color from participating in clinical trials. A recent Pew Research Center survey found that Black adults expressed more wariness than Hispanic and white adults about some forms of medical care, including expanding access to experimental drugs before clinical trials are completed. A 57% majority of Black adults say the risks of allowing more access to experimental treatments outweigh the benefits, while 41% say the benefits outweigh the risks. Hispanic (53%) and white adults (63%) are more likely than Black adults to say the benefits outweigh the risks.

The CoVPN was established by merging four existing NIAID funded clinical trials networks: the HIV Vaccine Trials Network (HVTN), based in Seattle; the HIV Prevention Trials Network (HPTN), based in Durham, N.C.; the Infectious Diseases Clinical Research Consortium (IDCRC) based in Atlanta; and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group based in Los Angeles.

“Leveraging much of what we learned through decades of HIV research as part of these clinical trial networks, we know that partnering with faith-based leaders through our new advisory council will be a critical step in building trust and helping inform those in key communities,” said Larry Corey, MD, co-lead of CoVPN’s vaccine testing, virologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and a founder of the HIV Vaccine Trials Network in the late 1990s. “The same principles of inclusiveness that are applied to HIV will be used for COVID-19 vaccine studies.”

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has reported that non-Hispanic American Indian and Alaska Native individuals are hospitalized with COVID-19 at 5.3 times the rate of non-Hispanic white people. For Hispanic populations and non-Hispanic Black individuals, the rate is 4.7 times higher.

To enhance trust, members of the CoVPN Faith Initiative will conduct outreach activities in partnership with other faith leaders to meaningfully engage key communities and provide accurate and updated information about COVID-19 and CoVPN clinical trials. For example, Faith Ambassadors will involve and expand their existing faith networks to help conduct educational webinars, community town hall meetings and share information through existing faith gatherings, programs and support groups.

“Addressing specific concerns and misinformation, while listening, learning and partnering with faith-based organizations and groups will help to build and enhance trust, and meaningfully engage racial and ethnic minorities in the research. This will help ensure that we have a vaccine that is effective in all populations,” said Stephaun Wallace, PhD, Director of External Relations, COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network (CoVPN/HVTN) at Fred Hutch.

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About The COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN)

The COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) was formed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) at the US National Institutes of Health to respond to the global pandemic. Through the CoVPN, NIAID is leveraging the infectious disease expertise of its existing research networks and global partners to address the pressing need for vaccines and antibodies against SARS-CoV-2. CoVPN will work to develop and conduct studies to ensure rapid and thorough evaluation of vaccines and antibodies for the prevention of COVID-19. The CoVPN is headquartered at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.