The race for a COVID-19 vaccine is hotting up. There are currently over 150 candidate vaccines in development around the world, with around 30 being tested on humans.
But for some scientists, the progress isn’t fast enough. There are growing calls for so-called ‘human challenge studies’, which would deliberately infect volunteers with the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2, with the aim of speeding up vaccine development by, according to one paper, as much as several months, potentially saving thousands of lives.
This would be a big ethical leap from current vaccine trials. Currently, a candidate COVID-19 vaccine goes through three phased trials. In the final trial (phase III), up to 10,000 volunteers are given either the candidate vaccine or a placebo. The volunteers then go about their daily lives, and the scientists wait to see who gets infected, and who doesn’t. If the vaccine works, the scientists should see significantly fewer COVID-19 cases in the vaccine group than in the placebo group.
The downside of this approach is that it takes time for volunteers to become infected, especially in countries with falling case numbers. Human challenge studies could potentially speed up the process by giving the candidate vaccine to a much smaller group of volunteers, and then, once the vaccine has triggered an immune response, directly infecting them with the virus. The scientists would monitor how the volunteers respond to the virus, gathering real-time data on the vaccine’s effectiveness.
This story is from the September 2020 edition of BBC Focus - Science & Technology.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the September 2020 edition of BBC Focus - Science & Technology.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 8,500+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
5 SIMPLE WAYS TO RECLAIM YOUR ATTENTION
Primed for constant interruptions, your brain is now distracting itself, says science. It's time to break the cycle and retrain your focus
GOING ROGUE
Some planets are stuck following the same orbital paths their entire lives. Others break free to wander alone through the vast, empty darkness of interstellar space and there's a lot more of them than you might think
BED BUGS VS THE WORLD
When bloodthirsty bed bugs made headlines for infesting Paris Fashion Week in 2023, it shone a spotlight on a problem that's been making experts itch for decades: the arms race going on between bed bugs and humans. Now, with the 2024 Summer Olympics fast approaching, the stakes are higher than ever
THE EYES THAT WATCH THE SKY
When it launches in 2026, the Copernicus programme's Anthropogenic Carbon Dioxide Monitoring satellite will give us a new window on to Earth's atmosphere... And how we're altering it
TIME-RESTRICTED EATING LINKED TO HIGHER RISK OF CARDIOVASCULAR DEATH
Skipping breakfast might not be so good for your health, after all
INSIDE THE PROJECT TO SCAN THOUSANDS OF RARE SPECIMENS
A major collaborative project has created 3D reconstructions of previously locked away museum specimens
VIDEO IS FIRST EVIDENCE OF AN ORCA KILLING A GREAT WHITE
Tourists sailing off the South African coast film a never-before-seen event: a lone orca attacking a 2.5m shark
AI REVEALS PROSTATE CANCER IS NOT JUST ONE DISEASE
DNA analysis carried out by artificial intelligence has helped scientists make a discovery that could revolutionise future treatment
MYSTERIOUS WAVES DETECTED IN JUPITER'S CORE
Scientists hope unusual fluctuations in the gas giant's magnetic field might reveal what's inside
MINI ORGANS GROWN FROM UNBORN BABIES MARK A BREAKTHROUGH IN PRENATAL MEDICINE
A new technique could allow congenital conditions to be diagnosed and treated before birth