Under 30s can get paid £5,000 to be reinfected with coronavirus

Ngl could really do with the money


18 to 30 year olds who have already had coronavirus would be paid £5,000 to be reinfected with the virus as part of a new research study by Oxford University.

Oxford University is currently looking to carry out a study to find out how the immune system reacts to being infected with the virus a second time. The participants in the study will be young people who have already recovered from the virus and will be paid £5,000 for taking part in the study.

In the study the participants will be reinfected with the virus in a safe controlled environment. They will then be quarantined for 17 days and looked after by researchers at a hospital until they are free of infection.

The chief investigator of the study, professor Helen McShane, said the study could help design tests that more accurately predict if people are protected from the virus.

She said: “Challenge studies tell us things that other studies cannot because, unlike natural infection, they are tightly controlled.

“When we reinfect these participants, we will know exactly how their immune system has reacted to the first COVID infection, exactly when the second infection occurs, and exactly how much virus they got.

“As well as enhancing our basic understanding, this may help us to design tests that can accurately predict whether people are protected.”

Previous studies have shown that a prior coronavirus infection will not necessarily fully protect young people from being reinfected with the virus.

Featured image credit: Ioannis Alexopoulos/LNP/Shutterstock

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