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UK analyzes exposing vaccine volunteers to covid-19

2020-09-24T10:36:01.322Z


The UK is exploring clinical trials in which volunteers deliberately expose themselves to coronavirus to test vaccines.


This Mexican lets himself get a covid-19 vaccine in Madrid 3:18

(CNN) - The

UK is exploring the possibility of conducting clinical trials in which volunteers deliberately expose themselves to the coronavirus to test the effectiveness of potential vaccines.

This was revealed on Wednesday by the UK Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in a statement.

  • Global immunization would be achieved after 2024, according to the world's largest vaccine manufacturer

"We are working with partners to understand how we could collaborate on the potential development of a covid-19 vaccine through human challenge studies," said a UK government spokesperson.

"These discussions are part of our work to investigate ways to treat, limit and hopefully prevent the virus so that we can end the pandemic earlier," added the spokesperson.

What are challenge trials?

In so-called "challenge trials," researchers give study subjects an experimental vaccine and then expose them to the coronavirus to see if the vaccine works.

These trials were used in the early investigations of smallpox, yellow fever, and malaria.

However, deliberately infecting study participants poses more risks and raises ethical concerns.

This compared to randomized controlled trials, where study subjects are given a vaccine or a placebo and researchers monitor to see if they get sick.

The World Health Organization (WHO) issued guidance in May saying challenge studies can be "substantially faster" and more effective than other methods.

This is partly because fewer participants need to be exposed to experimental vaccines and because they can be used to compare potential vaccines.

He also said that controlled infection trials could be ethically acceptable if they met certain criteria.

These include choosing healthy young adults as participants, starting with low doses, ensuring public participation, and providing high-quality care and close monitoring.

Warning for UK testing

In July, members of the US National Institutes of Health's Accelerating Covid-19 Vaccine and Therapeutic Interventions (ACTIV) task force said such trials would not accelerate the development of a vaccine.

Members of ACTIV wrote that the use of controlled human infection models to support vaccine development requires "essential criteria" to limit risk to participants and could take "one or two years."

This in a comment published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

He also noted that even "a single death or serious illness" caused by the test would eventually "stop progress."

Despite the risks, some people have already raised their hands to participate in challenge tests.

1Day Sooner, an organization of "potential covid-19 trial volunteers" that advocates the use of such tests, said Wednesday that controlled infection trials would support the development of a vaccine that is equally accessible to all.

'As an organization of potential covid-19 challenge trial volunteers, we have appreciated our collaborative contribution to the UK government's challenge plans, and hope and wish that the voices of volunteers are further incorporated into available protocols publicly for these studies, "said 1Día Sooner in a statement shared with CNN.

The organization says it has already petitioned the British government to build a 'Challenge Study Center' to house between 100 and 200 participants at a time.

This suggests that some candidate vaccines could be ready for testing before the end of this year.

«We have presented the petition.

It is currently under review, ”said 1Day Sooner.

Coronavirus vaccine

Source: cnnespanol

All news articles on 2020-09-24

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