UK may inject volunteers with coronavirus for vaccine trials: Report
London: Scientists in the UK are moving towards what are being referred to as challenge trials , which will involve healthy volunteers being deliberately infected with the novel coronavirus to test whether a vaccine offers any protection, according to a media report.
In the first trial of its kind expected to be formally announced next week, participants will be injected with an unnamed experimental vaccine and around a month later exposed to Sars-Cov-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, The Financial Times' reported.
The government-funded study is expected to begin in January, with the trials likely to take place in a large secure facility in Whitechapel in east London or nearby.
Around 2,000 potential volunteers have signed up for challenge studies in the UK through the US-based group 1Day Sooner, campaigning for COVID-19 trials, and are expected to be paid a few thousand pounds for signing up to the upcoming trials, according to the newspaper.
The project's academic leader is Imperial College London, and it will be run by hVivo, a spinout from Queen Mary University of London that was bought earlier this year by Open Orphan, a Ireland-based pharmaceutical research organisation.
Oxford University is also believed to be considering a similar "challenge trial" to test whether people have protective immunity from COVID-19 if they have been previously infected.
A government spokesperson said it is looking into collaborating on the potential development of a vaccine through human challenge studies.
Any trial that involves exposing people to the virus would need the approval of the UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), as well as an independent research committee.
"The safety of trial participants is our top priority and any proposal from a developer to include a human infection challenge as part of a clinical trial for development of a vaccine would be considered on a benefit-risk basis, with risks monitored for and minimised in the proposed trial design," the MHRA said.
Dr Claire Waddington, clinical lecturer in infectious diseases at the University of Cambridge, said challenge trials are "well established as a way to accelerate the development of vaccines".
She pointed to similar trials being used for typhoid vaccines, which are now being rolled out in affected countries.
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Air India flight from Mumbai makes 'priority' landing in Bhopal after snag; return leg cancelled
Bhopal (PTI): A Bhopal-bound Air India flight from Mumbai carrying 175 persons on board made a “priority” landing here on Sunday due to a snag, an airport official said.
The aircraft landed safely at Bhopal airport at 3.20 pm, he said.
Consequently, the return leg of the flight from Bhopal to Mumbai, with 178 passengers booked, was cancelled, the official said.
AAI-run Bhopal airport said in a statement that Air India flight AI 633 “reported a technical issue to Air Traffic Control (ATC) during the flight from Mumbai to Bhopal”.
Immediately, all prescribed safety protocols were activated, and seamless coordination was ensured between ATC, airline ground operations, CISF and airpiort fire and rescue team of Bhopal airport, it said in a statement.
The flight, carrying 175 persons, including 166 passengers and nine crew members, landed safely at Bhopal airport at 3.20 pm, the airport operator said.
All necessary assistance and support were extended by the airport and airline teams as per the requirements of the flight crew, it said.
“Due to the technical issue, the aircraft was declared unserviceable, and as a precautionary measure, the return flight AI-634 (Bhopal to Mumbai) was cancelled by the airline to facilitate detailed inspection and rectification,” the statement said.
