UK To Deliberately Infect Volunteers With COVID-19 To Rush Testing Of Vaccines - Reports

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd September, 2020) The United Kingdom will host the world's first human challenge trials, in which volunteers are deliberately infected with COVID-19, to speed up the testing of vaccines, Financial Times reported on Wednesday, citing people familiar with the matter.

According to the newspaper, the project will be announced next week and will be vital to selecting the best candidates out of a wide range of promising vaccines, which are set to undergo clinical testing in early 2021.

The studies, funded by the UK government, are supposed to be launched in January at a quarantine facility in east London. Volunteers will first be given a vaccine and then receive a dose of SARS-Cov-2 around a month later.

Some 2,000 potential volunteers have applied for challenge studies in the UK through campaign group 1Day Sooner, the newspaper noted.