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Are volunteers compensated for COVID-19 vaccine trials?
Compensation varies based on the vaccine trial you enter. Some offer compensation for travel or time involved with participating.
Am I entitled to compensation if I volunteer to a public agency during the COVID-19 pandemic?
See full answerIndividuals who volunteer their services to a public agency (such as a state, parish, city or county government) in an emergency capacity are not considered employees due compensation under the FLSA if they:• Perform such services for civic, charitable or humanitarian reasons without promise, expectation, or receipt of compensation. The volunteer performing such service may, however, be paid expenses, reasonable benefits or a nominal fee to perform such services; and,• Offer their services freely and without coercion, direct or implied; and,• Are not otherwise employed by the same public agency to perform the same services as those for which they propose to volunteer.
Who is accepting volunteers for the clinical trials of the COVID-19 vaccines?
The COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN) is conducting studies to find safe and effective vaccines and monoclonal antibodies for SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. To volunteer, sign up for the CoVPN Volunteer Screening Registry.
Can human challenge trials be used as evidence of effectiveness?
Researchers would need assurances that regulators like the Food and Drug Administration would actually accept a human challenge trial as evidence of effectiveness; the FDA might have its own ethical concerns or be wary of going around standard procedure.
What are the ethical concerns with challenge studies?
We conclude that the major ethical concern with challenge studies is that of risk of harm and that the fact that a study is a challenge study is not a wrong in itself. There is a long history in medical research of intentionally infecting healthy people in order to study disease.
Can a human challenge trial replace Phase III?
Eyal, Lipsitch, and Smith propose using a human challenge trial to replace Phase III, where larger-sample effectiveness tests take place (and which are, at the very least, months in the future).
How many people will be needed for a covid-19 vaccine trial?
A Covid-19 vaccine being developed at Oxford, for instance, aims to have 5,000 volunteers for Phase III. A human challenge trial, Eyal argues, could happen with only about 100 people.