Covid-19 vaccines: Should we allow human challenge studies to infect healthy volunteers with SARS-CoV-2?

The UPTAKE study: Implications for the future of COVID-19 vaccination trial recruitment in UK and beyond

“…There is also interest from those who had no heath conditions. These younger and healthier adults may be motivated by altruism and may see the societal bene ts of vaccine research, surpassing any personal health risks [28], [29]. Our study found that if one was interested in partaking in the vaccination trial, then they are also likely to have a positive perception of the COVID-19 vaccine on overall health and of the vaccine trials.…”

“…The challenge trial will involve infecting healthy participants with the COVID-19 virus in a controlled environment and then being administered the vaccine [33]. Eligible participants must not have any previous health conditions so that they experience only a mild infection [29], [32]. Consequently, high risk groups such as the elderly are likely to be excluded from these trials [29].…”

Sixty seconds on . . . human challenge trials

“…Thankfully, no. I’m referring to human challenge trials in which healthy volunteers are exposed to a pathogen to learn more about the disease it causes and to test vaccines quickly 1…”

“…The study was approved by a specially appointed independent research ethics committee. Before this, authors from 1Day Sooner—a non-profit organisation that advocates on behalf of volunteers for a potential covid-19 human challenge trial—debated the matter in The BMJ and cited the principle of “risk parity.”1 “If we allow some people to take certain risks to help save lives then we should allow other people to take similar, voluntary risks when there are comparable benefits,” they said.…”

Editorial: The Need for Harmonised International Guidelines ahead of COVID-19 Human Infection Studies

“…However, they remain vague on the cut-off point at which mortality risks become unacceptable–thus opening the door to a potentially dangerous weakening of existing ethical frameworks for CHIMs. Proponents have so far also failed to sufficiently address emerging research on ‘Long-COVID’, which indicates that the virus can cause long-term health damage in a significant group of survivors–including formerly young, healthy adults [ 7 ].…”