British researchers want to infect test subjects with the corona virus. Such a so-called contamination experiment could reveal more quickly whether a vaccine works.
The researchers are looking for ninety healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30. They are monitored 24 hours a day after vaccination.
It would be the first research worldwide in which participants are infected with the corona virus. The Johnson government pays 37 million euros for it.
The aim of the study, which is to start in January, is primarily to determine how much virus is needed to cause a covid infection. After that, the researchers could see whether corona vaccines that are well into their development prevent an infection.
With current vaccine studies, scientists will have to wait and see whether test subjects will become infected in their daily lives. Only then can they determine whether a vaccine is effective or not. It can take up to a year for enough participants to become infected to give reliable results.
Scientists disagree
In the past, healthy volunteers have more often been deliberately infected, for example with malaria. There has been a debate among scientists for months whether this should also be done in the development of the corona vaccine. Proponents point to the urgency that is required given the scale of the pandemic, while opponents argue, among other things, that the corona virus is still too new and therefore too dangerous to infect people.
The British researchers emphasize that they do everything they can to ensure the safety of the participants. Regulators have yet to approve the contamination experiment.
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