Vaccine volunteer who is among 500 people trialling new coronavirus jab insists his decision is not ‘heroic’
- It is hoped Oxford University trial will develop a jab protecting against the virus as early as September
- Volunteers run a small risk of serious side-effects, such as going into anaphylactic shock
- John Jukes, 36, from Oxfordshire, denied he was being brave by taking part
- Here’s how to help people impacted by Covid-19
Britain’s first coronavirus vaccine trial starts today with 500 volunteers taking part.
It is hoped the Oxford University trial will develop a jab which protects against the virus as early as September.
The volunteers will be given injections, unaware if they are receiving the potential vaccine or a meningitis immunisation.
How both groups cope with the virus can then be compared.
Project manager John Jukes, 36, of Witney, Oxfordshire, denied he was being brave by taking part
The volunteers run a small risk of serious side-effects, such as going into anaphylactic shock, or the jab could make coronavirus more dangerous if they become infected.
But one volunteer last night denied he was being brave by taking part.
Project manager John Jukes, 36, of Witney, Oxfordshire, said: ‘I don’t see what I am doing as being heroic at all. I’m in a position to possibly be helpful to lots of people – that’s an opportunity to grab.
It is hoped the Oxford University trial will develop a jab which protects against the virus as early as September
‘Nobody is escaping this virus and what it has done to the way we live.
‘If everybody shied away from helping to find a vaccine, then one might not be found.’
He heard about the trial through his partner Rachel White, who is a nurse researching infectious diseases. Volunteers receive no payment apart from compensation for their time and travel costs ranging from £190 to £625.
Mr Jukes said: ‘The trial isn’t free from risk but, then again, anything worthwhile has risk.’
He will get his injection on Monday and says he will go straight back to work. He stressed: ‘The people involved in the trial are the very best. It is so important as it might be the best chance we have of getting back to some kind of normal life, so I really want to help.’
More than 2,000 people volunteered to take part in the trial just during the first 24 hours after recruitment began on March 27.
If the trial is successful a second study will see the vaccine tested on 5,000 volunteers.
Experts say it is a weakened version of a virus which causes chimpanzees to get colds, but cannot cause illness in humans. It encourages human cells to produce the protein that forms the ‘spikes’ on the outside of coronavirus.
It is hoped this will train volunteers’ immune systems to recognise the spike proteins so they can fight off coronavirus if they become infected in future. Imperial College London is expected to begin testing another vaccine from June.
