Disposal of COVID vaccine
An unintended consequence of COVID-19 was a sudden increase in new waste, from face masks, scarves and gloves to used syringes. As millions of vaccines are launched daily, the process of disposing of needles safely and efficiently can be quite a chore.
In a move seen as an increase in the limits of medical ethics, the UK announced on Wednesday that it will fund a project that will voluntarily infect COVID-19 young people and healthy volunteers in the name of the research.
Reuters reported that the government will invest $ 43.5 million in trials that still need final approval by an ethics committee. The hope is that scientists will learn a lot about the virus in a controlled environment, leading to further advances in treatment and vaccines.
It is expected that around 90 volunteers, aged between 18 and 30 years old, will participate in the “human challenge”. The study was set to take place in the high-level isolation unit at the Royal Free Hospital in London, according to the Lancet.
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Nature magazine reported in October – when the idea for the tests just came up – that the idea of infecting people “even those at low risk of serious illnesses” with SARS-CoV-2, a deadly pathogen that has few proven treatments, is territory unexplored medical and bioethical. “
The magazine reported that Belgium also considered similar studies.
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Critics point out that the virus is unpredictable and unproven. They also question whether it is worth studying the disease in healthy, young individuals. The virus is known to be more dangerous for the population aged 65 and over.
Proponents of trials say that the knowledge that can be gained is worth the risk.
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“Deliberately infecting volunteers with a known human pathogen is never carried out lightly,” said Peter Openshaw, study co-investigator and immunologist at Imperial College London, according to the medical journal. “However, these studies are extremely informative about a disease. It is really vital that we move as quickly as possible to obtain effective vaccines and other treatments for COVID-19, and challenge studies have the potential to accelerate and decrease the risk of development. new drugs and vaccines. “
Chris Chiu, a scientist at the team’s Imperial College, told Reuters that one of the first studies he will conduct is the effects of Gilead antiviral remdesivir on carriers in the early stages of the infection. He told the news agency that his team has a “strong belief” in the drug, if administered on time.