9/24/2020 Covid-19: UK volunteers could be given virus to test vaccine - BBC News

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Covid-19: UK volunteers could be given virus to test vaccine

32 minutes ago

Coronavirus pandemic

REUTERS

The UK could be the first country in the world to carry out Covid "challenge trials" -
where healthy volunteers are deliberately infected with coronavirus to test possible
vaccines.

It is understood the studies - first reported by the Financial Times - would be conducted in
London.

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9/24/2020 Covid-19: UK volunteers could be given virus to test vaccine - BBC News

The UK government said it was holding discussions about developing a vaccine through such
"human challenge studies".

No contracts have yet been signed, the BBC understands.

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A spokesman for the government said: "We are working with partners to understand how we
might collaborate on the potential development of a Covid-19 vaccine through human
challenge studies.

"These discussions are part of our work to research ways of treating, limiting and hopefully
preventing the virus so we can end the pandemic sooner."

Research to find a coronavirus vaccine is under way at breakneck speed around the globe.

There are currently 36 vaccines in clinical trials, including one being developed by the
University of Oxford that is already in an advanced stage of testing.

'A risk volunteers are willing to take'

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9/24/2020 Covid-19: UK volunteers could be given virus to test vaccine - BBC News

There are - perhaps surprisingly - lots of young, healthy people ready to volunteer for
coronavirus challenge trials.

It would be a way of finding out, almost immediately, whether a vaccine works.

And it could help speed the selection of the promising coronavirus vaccines.

The health of the volunteers would be monitored round the clock at a clinical research facility
in London.

I understand that no contracts for the study, which would be government funded, have yet
been signed, but the hope is they could begin in January.

What's been holding things up are ethical considerations - challenge studies have been used
to test vaccines for flu, cholera and typhoid, but in each case there was an effective treatment
to prevent volunteers from falling ill.

With coronavirus, there would be an added level of risk - but it's one that volunteers say they
are willing to take.

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9/24/2020 Covid-19: UK volunteers could be given virus to test vaccine - BBC News

A successful vaccine would provide some protection against the virus by training people's
immune systems to fight it so they should not become sick.

This would allow lockdowns to be lifted more safely, and social distancing to be relaxed.

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9/24/2020 Covid-19: UK volunteers could be given virus to test vaccine - BBC News

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9/24/2020 Covid-19: UK volunteers could be given virus to test vaccine - BBC News

News of the potential trials comes amid a surge in confirmed cases in the UK.

The number of daily reported cases rose by a quarter on Wednesday to 6,178, the latest
government figures showed, up 1,252 since Tuesday. Some 37 deaths were also announced.

Tighter restrictions were announced across the UK on Tuesday, including a 22:00 closing
time for pubs in England starting on Thursday. Scotland is introducing similar measures,
with pubs and restaurants having to close at 22:00 BST from Friday, while in Wales
restrictions are limited to stopping alcohol sales at 22:00 from Thursday.

Other measures in England include people being told to work from home if they can, rules on
face coverings being expanded and the number of people allowed at weddings being halved.

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