COVID-19:  The Search for a Vaccine

EP 8. Human Challenge

<p class="p1">What are “human challenge” trials, and how might they help in efforts to develop a vaccine against COVID-19? Neil McNeil talks to Kate Bingham, chair of the UK Vaccine Task Force; Peter Openshaw, Professor of Experimental Medicine at Imperial College London, Dr. Andrew Catchpole, Chief Scientific Officer at hVIVO, and Sean Cousins, a volunteer participant in several human challenge trials.</p>

“COVID-19:  The Search for a Vaccine” is a series of podcasts which throws light on the work of the UK’s Vaccine Taskforce in co-ordinating and expediting efforts to protect the UK against COVID-19 through vaccination as quickly as possible.  The series looks at the most promising research; the different approaches to producing a vaccine; and how suitable vaccines are identified and acquired.  What are the greatest obstacles?  What steps are being taken to ensure sufficient manufacturing capacity?  Working at speed, how can we be sure that trials – and any vaccine - are safe?  These and other questions will be put to the leading experts in the field, episode by episode, as the international effort to produce a vaccine continues.