WASHINGTON— This week, the National Institutes of Health announced phase 3 clinical trials to determine if an investigational vaccine co-developed by Moderna, Inc. and the National Insitute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases is effective. Researchers are looking to enroll approximately 30,000 adult volunteers who do not have COVID-19 for the trials. One of the selected sites is in Pima County.

“I am hopeful that the phase 3 clinical trials announced will be an effective way to protect Americans from the wrath of COVID-19, and I am pleased that the National Institutes for Health has selected a diverse location like Pima County as one of the sites for this vaccine trial” said Rep. Raúl M. Grijalva. “Latinos are being hospitalized at four times the rate of white people, and we’ve seen in communities across the country that Black, Latino, and Native individuals are more likely to contract severe cases of COVID-19 and ultimately succumb to it. These vaccine trials are an important step toward ensuring that we can quickly develop a safe, effective vaccine to stop the spread of COVID-19, keep our communities safe, and get back to some semblance of normalcy. It’s essential that diverse individuals are included in the trial so that we can ensure an appropriate response across the board.”

Adults interested in volunteering can visit www.coronaviruspreventionnetwork.org or visit ClinicalTrials.gov and search identifier NCT04470427 to find a study center. ClinicalTrials.gov includes a complete listing of all study locations.

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