The National Medical Association (NMA) created a task force to address suspicion in the Black community during the coronavirus pandemic, according to The Grio on Tuesday (September 22).
NMA is an organization of Black physicians, and its task force will independently review COVID-19 drugs, vaccines and government regulations.
If data shows that the vaccine is effective and safe, the organization will approve it, according to NMA president and family physician Leon McDougle.
“It’s necessary to provide a trusted messenger of vetted information to the African American community,” McDougle said to StatNews. “There is a concern that some of the recent decisions by the Food and Drug Administration have been unduly influenced by politicians.”
McDougle said the Black community is weary about a COVID-19 vaccine due to the history of dangerous medical testing on Black people, such as the Tuskegee experiment.
“I think this will help to increase uptake in the African American community, if members of our task force give it the green light,” McDougle said.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Black people have died 2.1 times more than white people from COVID-19. The organization also noted Latinos have died at a rate of 1.1 times higher.
"The NMA will also be evaluating participation in clinical trials by Black and Latino participants," according to The Grio.
The idea of the task force came from Rodney Hood, an internal medicine doctor in San Diego and advocate for Black volunteers in medical trials.
Hood said his patients have a distrust in the federal government but trusted him as his doctor.
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