University Hospital Program to Address Health Care Conspiracy Theories in Communities of Color

NEWARK, NJ — In an effort to combat disinformation about COVID-19 and health care online, University Hospital will host a series of events starting Oct. 1 geared toward addressing community concerns, according to Rutgers New Jersey Medical School. 

Rutgers New Jersey Medical School Clinical Research Center and University Hospital partnered with Garden State Equality and Rutgers HIV Prevention Community Planning and Development Initiative to set the record straight on the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine trials taking place in Newark. 

The first program in the series, “Conspiracies & COVID-19 in Communities of Color,” will take place virtually at 7 p.m. and tackle the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccine trials and explore why the recruitment of diverse communities is important to finding an effective solution to the pandemic.

The first program in the series, “Conspiracies & COVID-19 in Communities of Color,” will take place virtually at 7 p.m. and tackle the efficacy and safety of COVID-19 vaccine trials and explore why the recruitment of diverse communities is important to find an effective solution to the pandemic. 

The announcement in September that Moderna was seeking Black and Latino volunteers for the trials in Newark set off a firestorm of anger amongst residents, who expressed concerns about minorities being used as “guinea pigs. Community Engagement Specialist Travis Love said in a statement that he understood the public’s fear when he first started recruiting for the study. 

“Although I hadn’t had a great deal of experience with research, I understood why people had reservations,” he said. “And now with COVID-19 it seems as if fear and anxiety have consumed most of the dialogue, which makes providing a space to have conversations about research in general, that much more challenging.” 

Led by Dr. Shobha Swaminathan, Clinical Research Site Leader and Medical Director for the Infectious Disease Practice (IDP), Rutgers NJMS CDC is a National Institute of Health-funded research team. Swaminathan said that there is an urgent need for collective participation toward reducing infections and deaths. 

In Newark, more than 600 have died from the coronavirus and more than 8,600 have been infected. Nationwide, more than 200,000 people have died, with many of them being disproportionately Black and Latinx. 

“We have a responsibility to our community and our participants to get this right and to make sure the study is conducted and held to the highest ethical standards, and that is what we strive for,” Swaminathan added.

For more information about Rutgers NJMS CDC  research and community engagement contact: researchwithaheart@njms.rutgers.edu or call 844-782-6765.

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