Coronavirus

UK To Infect Healthy People For Vaccine Study

The study is controversial because purposely infecting healthy people can be seen as unethical.

UK To Infect Healthy People For Vaccine Study
Kirsty Wigglesworth / AP
SMS

Amid the U.K.'s push to develop a coronavirus vaccine, the country is getting healthy people sick with the virus.

Researchers are looking to healthy young volunteers to help speed up the process of developing a vaccine.

The study is controversial because purposely infecting healthy people can be seen as unethical.

A spokesperson for the World Health Organization says it's important volunteers understand the risks.

"If people are considering this, it must be overseen by an ethics committee, and the volunteers must have full consent...Because you will be challenging people with a virus that we do not have a treatment for," the spokesperson said.

Researchers argue it's a necessary risk in order to identify the effectiveness of a vaccine.