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UK lab offering $4,500 to human guinea pigs willing to be injected with coronavirus
(THOMAS SAMSON/AFP via Getty Images)

UK lab offering $4,500 to human guinea pigs willing to be injected with coronavirus

The race is on for a vaccine

A medical research firm based in the U.K. is offering more than $4,500 to individuals willing to serve as guinea pigs and be injected with two strains of coronavirus similar to COVID-19 in a bid to find a vaccine for the new deadly virus.

What are the details?

The offer comes from London-based company Hvivo, which is seeking 24 healthy individuals at a time to receive the weaker shots of coronavirus before being administered vaccines in what the Times of London described as "a $2 billion race to find a vaccine" for COVID-19.

According to the New York Post, participants would make around $4,588 to participate in Hvivo's "flu camp," which entails a two-week quarantine where they must "eat a restricted diet and avoid human contact and exercise."

The firm is still awaiting approval from the U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency before trials can begin — but even if it gets clearance quickly, a cure is not expected until next winter, despite more than 20 firms participating in the race to find a shot to prevent the virus that has already taken nearly 4,000 lives globally.

Anything else?

Here in the U.S., another firm is seeking participants for a COVID-19 vaccine study, but the pay is not as high, nor as quick, nor as risky.

Business Insider reported that Seattle's Kaiser Permanente Washington research clinic plans to enroll 45 healthy folks to participate in a 14-month trial to test three doses of a potential vaccine against the novel coronavirus for safety.

However, in the Seattle study, participants would not be injected with the coronavirus. The researchers are offering $100 per visit for volunteers to show up in person 11 times, offering a total payout of $1,100 for those willing to serve as guinea pigs to test out the safety of what could be a life-saving vaccine.

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