Summary: <p>What if someone asked you to get infected with the COVID-19 virus, deliberately, in order to speed up the development of a vaccine? Would you do it? Would you risk your life to save others?</p> <p>For months, dozens of companies have been racing to create coronavirus vaccines. Finally, three have done it. But according to the experts, we’re not out of the woods yet; we’ll need several vaccines to satisfy the global demand. One way to speed up the development process is a controversial technique called a human challenge trial, in which human subjects are intentionally infected with the virus. Senior correspondent Molly Webster gets the lowdown from Public News Service reporter Laura Rosbrow-Telem and then tracks down some of the tens of thousands of people who have volunteered to participate in a challenge trial.</p> <p><em>Special thanks to Jonathan Miller.</em></p> <p><em>This episode was reported by Molly Webster and Laura Rosbrow-Telem and produced by Molly Webster and Pat Walters.</em></p> <p><em>Support Radiolab by becoming a member today at <a href="https://pledge3.wnyc.org/donate/radiolab-it/onestep/?utm_source=wnyc&utm_medium=radiolab-redirect&utm_campaign=pledge&utm_content=show-notes" target="_blank" title="Pledge">Radiolab.org/donate</a>. </em></p>
