Thousands of people want to be exposed to coronavirus for science

[Chris Smith]

• Coronavirus vaccine research is advancing at an incredible pace, with some of the first results expected by the end of the year.
• The UK government is actively exploring the idea of starting a challenge trial where volunteers would receive the experimental drug and then the virus.
• The World Health Organization (WHO) already cleared the controversial testing method, but governments and vaccine makers are still reluctant to embark on research that would expose volunteers to a deadly pathogen.
• Tens of thousands of people have signed up for challenge trials nonetheless.

There’s hope that vaccines combined with continued precautions (social distancing, hand washing, and face masks) can defeat the COVID-19 pandemic by the end of 2021. While we have no definitive proof that vaccines are effective and safe, there’s plenty of promising evidence to keep the hope alive. First of all, there are hundreds of coronavirus vaccine candidates in the works. The more shots on goal, the higher the chances that at least one will score. Secondly, the results for the first two phases of clinical trials have shown that about a dozen drugs are effective and safe. Phase 3 will have to prove these experimental drugs can block infection or reduce the virus's severity.

There’s plenty of reticence regarding COVID-19 vaccines as well. More Americans are wary of vaccines than a few months ago, as vaccines became tools to advance political agendas. The scientific community has attempted to reassure that political factors will not compromise vaccine safety, and the new FDA guidelines make it harder for any vaccine candidate to seek an emergency use authorization, or obtain one, before the November 3rd presidential election. The guidelines say that companies will need to observe volunteers for two months before starting the approval process.

But other countries are looking at a more drastic approach for testing the effectiveness of vaccines. Rather than leave COVID-19 exposure to chance for volunteers, the UK is considering infecting some of them intentionally to see if the drugs work. And thousands of people are ready to be exposed to the virus to save others.

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Thousands of people want to be exposed to coronavirus for science originally appeared on BGR.com on Mon, 12 Oct 2020 at 17:51:28 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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