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Dr Andrew Catchpole, chief scientific officer at clinical company hVIVO, which has pioneered viral human challenge models, has said the coronavirus human challenge trial (see earlier post) could be adapted to new variants.
He told a press briefing:
This first trial will also then be a critical platform and critical learnings that we can then translate to any new variant viruses, should we need to put a variant virus into the model. It will take us approximately three to four months, probably, to manufacture a new variant of virus, should that be required. Then we’ll be ready to start testing in the challenge model with a variant virus, so we are able to respond very quickly to a variant. We believe the timelines of setting up a variant in the model are actually shorter than it would be for a vaccine to respond to such a similar timeline.
Covid case rates for three of the four UK nations have dropped to their lowest level since early autumn 2020, suggesting lockdown restrictions across the country have succeeded in helping to drive down the spread of the virus.
Both Wales and Northern Ireland are currently recording rates last seen at the end of September, while the overall rate for England has fallen to its lowest level since the start of October, according to analysis of the latest health agency data by PA media.
