London | A study exposing volunteers to the corona virus, the first of its kind in the world, is set to launch in the UK in the coming weeks, the government announced on Wednesday after approving a medical test by officials responsible for verification. It. Ethics.
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The government said in a statement that the study included low-dose COVID-19 injections in a safe environment for 90 healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30.
This test will attempt to evaluate the small amount of virus needed to cause an infection, with the aim of developing vaccines and treatment for the disease.
“Although there has been a very positive improvement in vaccine development, we want to find the best vaccines and the most effective vaccines for long-term use,” said Minister Kwazi Quarteng.
He explained that the study “will help accelerate scientists’ knowledge of how the corona virus affects people and promotes rapid vaccine development.”
The United Kingdom, one of the most severely affected countries in Europe by the new corona virus with more than 118,000 deaths, was the first Western country to launch a massive vaccination campaign against COVID-19 in December. More than 15 million people over the age of 70, including caregivers, have received the first dose of the vaccine.
The study, funded by the government at 33 33.6 million (CA $ 59 million), is being carried out in collaboration with the Royal Free Hospital in London.
Once the initial phase of the study is complete, a very small number of volunteers will be able to receive vaccines that have been verified by clinical trials so that they can be exposed to the Govit-19 virus in order to identify the most effective vaccines.
“Our ultimate goal is to find out which vaccines and treatments work best to overcome this disease, but we need volunteers to support us in this work,” said Chris Xiu, chief researcher at Imperial College London.
During the study, doctors and scientists will be available 24 hours a day to ensure the safety of volunteers and to monitor the effects of the virus.
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