TED Talks Daily The case to infect volunteers with COVID-19 to accelerate vaccine testing | Nir Eyal
Jun 27, 2020
Nir Eyal, a bioethicist and head of the Centre for Population Level Bioethics at Rutgers University, discusses a bold proposal to speed up COVID-19 vaccine testing through human challenge trials. He delves into the ethics of intentionally exposing volunteers to the virus and the potential public health benefits against the backdrop of moral dilemmas. Eyal also highlights the importance of including marginalized communities in these trials and advocates for a heroic perspective on vaccine trial participants, emphasizing their critical role in combating the pandemic.
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Challenge Trials vs. Conventional Testing
- Conventional vaccine testing involves waiting for natural exposure to the virus after administering the vaccine and control.
- Challenge trials, conversely, deliberately expose participants to the virus, potentially accelerating vaccine development.
Tolerable Risk in Challenge Trials
- Nir Eyal argues that challenge trials can be ethically justified if risks are tolerable, similar to kidney donation.
- Selecting young participants in their 20s, the mortality risk is lower than that of kidney donation (1 in 12,000).
Minimizing Risk in Challenge Trials
- Further minimize risk in challenge trials by selecting participants without pre-existing conditions.
- Prioritize individuals likely to be exposed, like frontline workers or those in urban hubs.