In a controversial move, young people in London are intentionally being infected with SARS-CoV-2 to gain new knowledge about the virus and aid in vaccine development. This method, known as human challenge trials, has been used in the past for the development of vaccines against malaria and influenza. However, in those studies, participants were given a potential treatment before being intentionally infected. In this British study, participants will not receive any treatment or vaccine before being infected with the lowest possible dose of the virus. The Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (vfa) has criticized this method as unethical, and a similar study is unlikely to take place in Germany.
The Royal Free Hospital study will involve 90 people between the ages of 18 and 30, who will receive compensation for their participation. To ensure the safety of the participants, they will be constantly monitored by scientists and medical professionals. The study aims to determine how the immune system responds to the virus and how infected individuals spread the virus to their surroundings. The British government believes that the knowledge gained from this study will play an essential role in the further development of vaccines.
In future studies, participants will be vaccinated with new treatments and then intentionally infected with SARS-CoV-2 to test their effectiveness. This method is much more efficient than previous methods, which involved vaccinating thousands of people and comparing infection rates to an unvaccinated control group. While this method has been criticized as unethical, proponents argue that it could lead to faster vaccine development and ultimately save lives.
