The rights of vaccine clinical trial volunteers must be
safeguarded to help protect everyone against future health
crises, Health and Social Care Secretary will tell
G20 health leaders in Rome today (Sunday 5 September).
Attending his first international meeting of global health
leaders since becoming Secretary of State, will push
for the UK’s COVID-19 vaccine clinical trial participants to have
their vaccination status recognised globally.
This expands on the commitment made at the G7 Health Ministers’
Meeting - held in Oxford earlier this year - to protect the
freedoms of those who helped pioneer medical advances and save
lives around the world.
The UK has been a leading force in identifying new treatments and
vaccines during the pandemic, with clinical trials resulting in
the ground-breaking discovery of dexamethasone for treating
serious COVID-19 cases - saving more than a million lives
globally. It has also supported the scientific research, clinical
trial and at-cost production of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine
which has now shipped tens of millions of doses globally.
Many British citizens who took part in vaccine clinical trials to
tackle COVID-19 have not had their status recognised for overseas
certification purposes, because the vaccine they received is not
yet approved for use in their destination country. This may mean
they have to quarantine on arrival and cannot access certain
settings where vaccine certification schemes are in place.
The government is committed to seeing a safe and sustainable
return to international travel, and continuing to lead the way to
make sure this is inclusive of clinical trial participants in the
UK and beyond.
Under our amber arrivals policy, if a person is arriving from a
country where the UK already exempts fully vaccinated travellers
from quarantining, trial participants that have adequate proof of
their participation in a trial will also be exempt from
quarantining. We are proud to publicly recognise their vital role
in the ongoing global efforts to combat the pandemic.
Health and Social Care Secretary,
said:
“The UK has been a trailblazer in clinical trials during the
pandemic and we must harness that progress to fight future health
threats.
“If those who go above and beyond by taking part in clinical
trials are disadvantaged in activities such as overseas travel,
it threatens the future of medical break-throughs and our ability
to combat health threats.
“Participants put themselves forward to benefit the global
community and without them, the lives of millions of people
worldwide would be in danger due to a lack of progress on new
treatments and vaccines.
“I will be urging my G20 health ministerial counterparts to stand
up for the rights of those who have helped protect us all and
ensure they can live their lives unhindered.”
The UK is now embarking on a range of vital studies to monitor
the impact of vaccines on pregnant women and teenagers as well as
the impact of new vaccines, boosters and mixing types of vaccine.
Recruitment is ongoing for these studies and the government is
committed to ensuring people are not discouraged from
participating and minimise the risk of drop out, by working hard
to meet their needs.
At the UK-hosted G7 health meetings, representatives from some of
the world’s largest democracies committed to a new Therapeutics
and Vaccines Clinical Trials Charter, making it easier and
quicker to share results from vaccine and therapeutic trials to
tackle COVID-19 and prevent future health threats.
This will help deliver high-quality, reliable and comparable
evidence from international clinical trials to speed up access to
approved treatments and vaccines, benefitting people in the UK
and globally. It will also include greater diversity of
participants, including pregnant people and children.
The Health and Social Care Secretary will also speak to his
ministerial counterparts about the need to improve vaccine
confidence around the world, helping tackle dangerous
misinformation and targeting communications through impactful
routes for people from different backgrounds.
The government has expanded the Community Champions Scheme so
that communities have trusted local leaders who can help answer
questions about the vaccine and work with the NHS and public
health teams to support local communities. Overall the UK has one
of the highest vaccine uptake rates in the world and vaccine
hesitancy has fallen among ethnic minority groups from 22% in the
Jan-Feb survey to 9% at the most recent wave (May-June).
Over 91 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been
administered across the UK, with nearly 80% of everyone aged over
16 receiving both doses, including more than 50% of those aged
18-29 being double jabbed.
[ENDS]
Notes to Editors:
- The G20 Health Ministers’ Meeting will be held in Rome on 5
and 6 September. It will focus on promoting strong cooperation,
including towards ending the COVID-19 pandemic and supporting
recovery, as well as work to better prevent, detect and respond
to global health threats and emergencies.
