(Reuters.) – As it intensifies its efforts to develop new vaccines, the world’s first medical study that allows participants to be deliberately exposed to coronavirus virus is now seeking volunteers.

Last April saw the Oxford University trial, which was three months after Britain had approved what is known as challenge trials in humans with COVID-19.

The university released a statement Tuesday stating that the first phase was still underway and focused on determining how many virus strains are needed for an infection to occur. While the second phase will focus on the required immune response to prevent one from happening, it said the university had made no announcement.

Scientists are near to finding the weakest virus infection, which will ensure that about half of those exposed get mild or symptomatic COVID-19.

The team plans to then expose all volunteers, who have been naturally infected with the virus or had previously been vaccinated against it. This will allow them to test for antibodies and T-cells to ensure that they are protected from infection.

Helen McShane (Oxford University Professor of Vaccinology, and study’s principal investigator) stated that “this is the immune reaction we then need to induce using a new vaccine.”

According to the statement, future vaccine development will be much faster and more efficient thanks to the trial’s results.

The correlate of protection is a term used to describe the immune response that vaccines must induce to protect against illness. Global immunologists are trying to find out what this antibody reaction looks like. The need to conduct mass vaccination trials has been greatly diminished once this is done.

Human challenge trials have been used for years by scientists to find treatments against various infectious diseases. However, this first research on COVID-19 is unprecedented.

There is a risk that volunteers could contract the disease, but the university takes precautions.

Participants should be in good health and between the ages of 18-30. Participants will need to be kept in quarantine for at most 17 days. Those who have symptoms will receive Ronapreve monoclonal antibody treatment by Regeneron (NASDAQ)