Volunteers To Be Infected With Coronavirus For $4,600 In A Bid To Find Vaccine

The race to find a vaccine against coronavirus is on, and a laboratory at Queen Mary BioEnterprises Innovation Centre at Whitechapel in in London is offering people $4,600 to be infected with a form of the disease. Hvivo is the company that runs the quarantine unit in a laboratory in east London.

Up to 24 people at a time will be paid to be infected with the virus. The Covid-19 strain of the virus is currently causing ravages in the world - more than 3800 deaths since its outbreak. The volunteers are to be infected with two common but much less serious strains of the virus - 0C43 and 229E. These strains reportedly cause only mild respiratory symptoms. It is thought that if a vaccine can fight the weaker strains, then it could possibly fight the killer coronavirus, putting an end to the pandemic.

Volunteers will be quarantined for two weeks, and will not be allowed to exercise or have physical contact with others. They will also follow a restricted diet plan. Nurses and doctors involved will wear protective clothing and ventilators while working in the lab and taking nasal swabs, doing blood tests and collecting any samples infected with the virus. The most effective drugs will be tested on the volunteers as experimentation continues.

This is part of a global $2bn race to find a cure for the deadly virus, which kills the elderly and those with underlying health conditions at a much faster rate. The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency will have to approve of Hvivo's plans before testing begins.

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