The United Kingdom has become the first country in the world to approve the human challenge trials that will expose volunteers to COVID-19. 

The trial is expected to start in a month’s time. It will include about 90 healthy volunteers aged 18 to 30 years who will be exposed to the smallest amount of the virus required to cause the infection. Investigators will assess the volunteers for possible health risks. The volunteers will be in quarantine for monitoring for a period of at least 14 days in a specialist unit at London’s Royal Free Hospital. Peter Openshaw, professor of experimental medicine at Imperial College London, stated that safety of the volunteers is the priority. Volunteers will be given a compensation of around £88 per day for the study period, and will include follow-up evaluation for one year. To ensure safety, the SARS-CoV-2 virus that has been circulating in England since March 2020 will be used, and not a new variant… (ET Healthworld – Reuters, February 18, 2021)