Could deliberately infecting volunteers save lives during a pandemic?
In short: Traditional vaccine development takes years, but a radical proposal suggests speeding up the timeline by exposing volunteers to the virus. This video explores the ethics and mechanics of human challenge trials.
Bioethicist Nir Eyal discusses the potential of human challenge trials—a method where scientists intentionally expose participants to SARS-CoV-2 to determine vaccine efficacy more rapidly. While conventional testing is a slow, years-long process, these trials aim to accelerate development during crises like the COVID-19 pandemic.
However, implementing these trials is not without difficulty. Researchers have found that high levels of existing immunity in the population can complicate efforts to effectively test new vaccines and treatments.
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Sources
- Summary by Intellect · source: Nir Eyal: The case to infect volunteers with COVID-19 to accelerate vaccine testing
- Also: Scientists tried to give people COVID — and failed
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