Live
Audio Only
One month after the volunteers are inoculated with a vaccine, they will be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus to induce the COVID-19 disease in them.
The United Kingdom (UK) will carry out tests on healthy people who will voluntarily become infected with the new coronavirus during clinical trials aimed at checking the effectiveness of different vaccines under development.
RELATED:
These studies, which are funded by the British Government, will begin next January in a secure facility in East London, where the volunteers will remain in quarantine.
The researchers who are leading these trials highlighted that the volunteers will play a vital role in learning about the best COVID-19 vaccines. About 2,000 people have already signed up to take part in these tests.
One month after the volunteers are inoculated with a vaccine, they will be infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus to induce COVID-19 disease in them, but under strict medical supervision.
It’s happening! The pace of vaccine research is absolutely staggering: back in May, when I wrote about deliberate infection, it was just a crazy idea.
— Anjana Ahuja (@anjahuja) September 23, 2020
By @clivecookson
London to host world’s first human challenge trials for #COVID19 https://t.co/OulYyjKM06 via @financialtimes
Previously, however, the trials will need to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
When the world is facing "an unprecedented global threat like COVID-19, it is an ethical imperative to carry out these controlled studies to help develop a vaccine and identify the best one," Oxford University's Medical Ethics professor Dominic Wilkinson explained.
On Wednesday, the United Kingdom reported 37 deaths from COVID-19 and 6,178 new infections, the highest figure since last May 1.
Newsletter
