Would you let researchers deliberately infect you with the coronavirus, in exchange for about $4,500? That’s what researchers in the United Kingdom are offering, along with two weeks in a secure London facility, complete with a flat-screen TV, a Playstation 3, WiFi and a private bathroom.
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Researchers are looking for 24 volunteers to infect with coronavirus strains 0C43 and 229E. While these strains are similar to COVID-19, they cause only a mild respiratory illness. After infected, nasal samples, blood and dirty tissues will be collected by medical staff, from each volunteer, in order to assess viral load.
Should you choose to offer yourself up as a human guinea pig, you would be closely monitored around the clock for symptoms, and barred from exercising or having contact with the outside world. Confined to your room for two weeks, you’d probably be able to get a lot of Netflix binging in. But that’s likely the only binging you’d be doing. On top of, of course, feeling downright miserable, the researchers would be in control of your diet.
The somewhat odd request is part of a billion-dollar race against the clock to find a vaccine for COVID-19, which, as of around 9am on March 10th, has infected 113,844 people and killed 4,021 in 111 countries around the world.
The company that owns the laboratory, called Hvivo, also runs clinical trials to find a cure for the common cold and flu. Named FluCamp, the company offers around $100 a day and similar room “perks” for those who volunteer to participate.
So, what do you think? Would you volunteer to be injected with the coronavirus? What about the flu?