Demand for full study protocol of human trials be made public before first participants recruited
Campaigners are demanding the full protocol of the world’s first human challenge trial, in which healthy young volunteers are deliberately infected with the virus that causes Covid-19, be published before the first participants are recruited.
Challenge trials are designed to sharpen our understanding of the virus and expedite the development of new-generation vaccines and therapeutics. While some scientists have reservations about exposing volunteers to a virus for which there is no cure, proponents argue that the risks of Covid-19 to the young and healthy are minimal, and the benefits to society high.
