The ethical case for allowing medical trials that deliberately infect humans with COVID-19
Despite the urgent need to beat COVID-19, health officials may be delaying the development of an effective vaccine.
Authorities in the U.S. and elsewhere are yet to authorize an ethically charged research procedure called “human challenge trials.” Challenge trials entail deliberately infecting volunteers with the disease – which explains the official reticence – but they could substantially expedite the development of a vaccine.
The debate over human challenge trials has been raging for months among health professionals and academics. But only now – some eight months into the pandemic – are authorities in the U.S. beginning to consider them in a bid to speed up the vaccine-development process.
Sitting and waiting
A vaccine has to go through multiple stages before it can be rolled out. Af...