UK Coronavirus Live: Covid reinfection trial launched in UK as Matt Hancock gives Commons statement

(AFP via Getty Images)

Scientists will attempt to reinfect healthy, young volunteers who have recovered from Covid-19 as a part of a new UK study.

The University of Oxford is launching the first human challenge trial of its kind to determine what dose of virus is needed to re-infect after natural infection, how the immune system responds, and what this may mean for developing protective immunity against the disease.

Participants must be fit, well, and fully recovered from their first Covid infection. They will be isolated in a hospital suite for at least 17 days and undergo various medical tests, including lung and heart scans.

Meanwhile, 10 million people in the UK have now received their second dose of the coronavirus vaccine.

Matt Hancock gave a statement to the Commons on Monday afternoon. In it, he said the UK was on track to meet the road map set out by Boris Johnson earlier this year while confirming India will be put on the travel ‘red list.’

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