LONDON (Reuters) – Britain became the first country in the world on Wednesday to allow volunteers to be exposed to the COVID-19 virus to advance medical research into the pandemic.
The trial, which will begin in a month, will see up to 90 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 30 exposed to COVID-19 in a safe and controlled environment to improve understanding of how the virus affects people. , said the government.
In order to make the trial as safe as possible, the version of the virus circulating in England from March 2020 will be used instead of one of the new variants.
The study will initially try to establish the smallest amount of virus needed to cause infection, he said. Volunteers could be vaccinated before being exposed to the virus.
Volunteers will be compensated for participating.
British Business Secretary Kwasi Kwarteng said the study would help find the best and most effective vaccines for long-term use.
“These studies on human challenges will be carried out here in the UK and will help accelerate scientists’ knowledge of how coronavirus affects people and could ultimately encourage the rapid development of vaccines, ”he said.
The government’s vaccine working group, Imperial College London, the Royal Free London NHS Foundation Trust and the clinical company hVIVO, which has pioneered viral human challenge models, are working on the study.
Report by Paul Sandle, edited by Sarah Young and Christian Schmollinger