Tryon Medical CEO Dr. Dale Owen joined Mike Collins for WFAE Charlotte Talks with Carolyn Y. Johnson, science reporter for The Washington Post. On the Sept. 17, 2020 show, they talked about all aspects of COVID-19 vaccine trials, including the one Tryon Medical Partners and Javara Research are currently running with Moderna. Below are highlights, and use this link to listen to the show in its entirety.
- The first part of this that becomes really important is to remember the past: the Tuskeekee trials and lack of informed consent created a lack of trust. In looking at what Moderna has done, I think they are trying to create the trust by releasing the entire protocol to allow people to see it for what it is.
- We’ve got to push hard to get the vaccine ready and do all the work that has to be done, but then we can’t let our guard down and have a big spread of the virus among those who are not vaccinated. We demonstrate that every time we let our guard down, we have a big surge and we have to protect against that.
- The big issue now is pure transparency. The medical community needs to get out there in the population and explain what’s going on. We’re starting that.
- We had more than 1700 patients want to participate in this trial, because they wanted to do something for mankind. They didn’t want to do it to help themselves, because there is a chance they could get the placebo instead of the vaccine. They want to do it for their country and the world.
- Hispanic and African-American populations are being devastated by this virus compared to the Caucasian populations. We need to have studies that are representative of the whole population and all walks of life, so that we can trust the vaccine will do what it is supposed to.
If you have Black, Latinx, American Indian or Asian heritage, please consider participating. Learn more and spread the word to your family and friends. You don’t have to be a Tryon Medical Partners patient to help us in this fight. If you can participate in one of our COVID-19 vaccine trials, call Tryon Medical Partners at 704-586-9386.