NIH COVID-19 Communities Responding Together
Community leaders can play a vital role in connecting their communities with important, accurate information about public health and clinical research. Find resources that can help you talk with your communities about COVID-19, the vaccines being developed, and the importance of being included in research studies.
Bookmark this page and return often to find new materials.
NEW! You can find our most recent additions social media posts and images in the ‘Educating and recruiting clinical trial participants’ section.
Educating and recruiting clinical trial participants
Understanding what it means to participate in a clinical trial is an important first step for people considering volunteering. Find answers to questions often asked about clinical trial participation on the NIH Clinical Trials and You site.
Topics include clinical trial types, study phases and the number of people involved in each, safety protections and providing informed consent, and questions one can ask when considering participation.
- NEW: Use our sample social media posts and images
- Infographic on types of clinical studies (PDF, 317K)
- Educational resources
- Stories from volunteers and researchers
- Finding a clinical trial
Ensuring diversity in clinical trials
In the United States, COVID-19 has struck racial and ethnic minority communities particularly hard. African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American people are four to five times more likely to be hospitalized with COVID- 19 than are white people. 1
Participants in any clinical trial should represent the patients who will use the drug or vaccine being tested. But historically, clinical research studies excluded, or in some cases, exploited, minority populations. Today, many people of color remain distrustful of clinical research, or face other barriers to participation. NIH is committed to the inclusion of African American, Hispanic/Latino, and Native American communities in COVID-19 vaccine trials because it is essential for the development of vaccines that are safe and effective for these communities.
The NIH wants to make sure that new vaccines and treatments work for everyone — not just for some.
Resources
National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) video on the importance of participating in clinical trials, especially for underrepresented populations
Fact Sheets
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Fact sheet from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Office of Minority Health about the importance of minority participation
Videos
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Video on the importance of diversity when developing medical products, from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
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Video on the importance of the Latino population in clinical trials from the FDA
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Video from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) on encouraging women, including minority women, to participate in research trials
How clinical trials work
Find easy-to-read, basic information on research studies to share with your audience.
Resources
Videos
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Videos from patients describing their experiences participating in NIH clinical trials
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Collection of videos from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services on the basics of clinical research.
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(Spanish with English subtitles)
How vaccines work
Vaccines help our body’s immune system fight infections faster and more effectively, protecting us from serious diseases. The vaccine triggers a response from our immune system that helps our body fight off and remember the germ so it can attack it again if it comes back. It also helps provide long-lasting immunity.
Get general information on vaccines and how the COVID-19 vaccine will work to protect those who get the vaccine and those around them.
Resources
Videos
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Short, informative videos from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention featuring clinicians explaining the importance of vaccines and how to address patient questions.
News
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NIH news release announcing the trial
Information on NIH’s COVID-19 vaccine research
The NIH launched a new clinical trials network called the COVID-19 Prevention Trials Network (COVPN), to take advantage of existing research on COVID-19 vaccine development. COVPN aims to enroll thousands of volunteers in large-scale clinical trials to test vaccines and monoclonal antibodies to protect people from COVID-19. A critical component of COVPN’s success will be community engagement, particularly in those communities who have suffered from the most severe disease and worst outcomes from COVID-19.
Do you know people who wish to participate or volunteer?
Volunteer now!1. COVIDView: A Weekly Surveillance Summary of U.S. COVID-19 Activity. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, August 15, 2020. Accessed August 23, 2020.