1Day Sooner
| Founded | March 2020[1] |
|---|---|
| Type | Nonprofit organization |
| Focus | Human challenge studies, Covid-19, public health policy |
Key people | Joshua Morrison (Founder) |
| Website | 1daysooner |
1Day Sooner is a nonprofit that advocates for people who want to participate in medical research, in particular human challenge trials.[2] 1Day Sooner began in March 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, organizing people willing to volunteer in human challenge trials as a means to speed development of vaccines against the disease. 1Day Sooner's advocacy for Covid-19 challenge trials was met with both support and opposition among the public, scientists, and bioethicists. Covid-19 challenge trials were ultimately implemented in the United Kingdom.
1Day Sooner also conducts advocacy work on public health policy and for challenge trials in other infectious diseases.
Covid-19 challenge trials
[edit]1Day Sooner was established by Josh Morrison, a founder of kidney donation group Waitlist Zero, and Sophie Rose, a Stanford biology graduate.[3][4] Morrison and Rose were motivated to do so after reading about how human challenge trials in young, healthy volunteers could potentially accelerate Covid-19 vaccine development, and set up an initial signup website in March 2020 for people interested in being a research subject in Covid-19 human challenge studies.[4][5][3]
By October 2020, over 38,500 had expressed interest in participation via the website.[6][7]
A survey study of 1Day Sooner prospective volunteers found that they were more likely to display altruistic behaviors, such as charitable donations or blood donation, than a control group. The study argued that this potentially addressed concerns of some bioethicists regarding the potential exploitation of volunteers.[8][9]
1Day Sooner viewed challenge trials as a means to promote the development of multiple vaccines, particularly ones accessible in low-income countries, as well as gain more insight into Covid-19 immunity.[10][11] If early vaccine candidates in development in 2020 had turned out to be ineffective, moreover, 1Day Sooner argued challenge trials could have been used to prioritize most promising vaccines from remaining candidates.[12] The organization held that if challenge trials could result in a benefit for society, informed individuals should be allowed the freedom to volunteer themselves, even in the face of potentially serious risks.[13]
The government of the United Kingdom announced in October 2020 that it would sponsor Covid-19 human challenge trials.[10][6] 1Day Sooner called for the Covid-19 study protocols to be published before the studies began recruiting.[14]
In August 2020, the United States government made preparations to manufacture a strain of the virus to be used in potential human challenge trials partially as a result of advocacy by 1Day Sooner.[15] As of 2022, such trials have not been implemented in the United States.
Support
[edit]1Day Sooner organized an open letter signed by 125 scientists, academics, and other public figures to Francis Collins of the National Institutes of Health, urging the United States government to begin immediate preparations for Covid-19 human challenge trials in July 2020.[3][16] Signatories included vaccinologists Adrian V. S. Hill and Stanley Plotkin and 15 Nobel laureates.[16][12]
Opposition
[edit]Other scientists and bioethicists disagreed with the prospect of Covid-19 challenge trials as advocated by 1Day Sooner. Collins, Anthony Fauci and two other scientists argued that the results from a challenge trial, which would be conducted in healthy, young volunteers (at lower risk for serious illness), would not necessarily reflect efficacy in at-risk groups like the elderly, nor would they provide useful information on transmissibility.[13][17] Other scientists, like Angela Rasmussen, similarly argued that it was too dangerous to ethically conduct Covid-19 challenge trials given the unknowns of the disease at the time.[3] Others in addition contended that 1Day Sooner was mistaken in assuming that human challenge trials would go substantially faster than traditional field trials in the context of a global pandemic where transmission of the virus was widespread; at the time, some Phase III vaccine trials had already begun.[18]
Other advocacy
[edit]1Day Sooner lobbied for a national vaccine day in the United States, a federal holiday dedicated to promoting vaccination in 2021.[19][20] The organization subsequently sponsored a Boston Vaccine Day event in September 2021.[21]
1Day Sooner also supports challenge trials for other diseases, including hepatitis C and tuberculosis.[22][23]
1Day Africa, the African division of 1Day Sooner, focuses on accelerating vaccine development and promoting global access and distribution to vaccines.[23]
References
[edit]- ^ "Mission, Goals & Principles". 1Day Sooner. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ^ Piper, Kelsey (31 March 2021). "What kind of person signs up to be infected with the coronavirus on purpose?". Vox.
- ^ a b c d Parker, Laura (16 September 2020). "To find a vaccine for COVID-19, will we have to deliberately infect people?". National Geographic. Archived from the original on March 3, 2021. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ a b Olivia, Adams (9 February 2021). "Coronavirus Vaccine: 'I recruited people to be deliberately infected with Covid-19'". Marie Claire UK. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ "Mission, Goals & Principles". 1Day Sooner. Retrieved 28 October 2022.
- ^ a b Grover, Natalie (20 October 2020). "The volunteers lining up for Covid-19 challenge trials". The Guardian. Retrieved 20 February 2023.
- ^ Neuman, Scott (20 October 2020). "U.K. Preparing COVID-19 Vaccine Trials That Deliberately Expose Study Subjects". NPR. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ Piper, Kelsey (31 March 2021). "What kind of person signs up to be infected with the coronavirus on purpose?". Vox. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ^ Marsh, Abigail A.; Magalhaes, Monica; Peeler, Matthew; Rose, Sophie M.; Darton, Thomas C.; Eyal, Nir; Morrison, Josh; Shah, Seema K.; Schmit, Virginia (2 November 2022). "Characterizing altruistic motivation in potential volunteers for SARS-CoV-2 challenge trials". PLOS ONE. 17 (11): e0275823. Bibcode:2022PLoSO..1775823M. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0275823. PMC 9629635. PMID 36322529.
- ^ a b Magee, Zoe (20 October 2020). "UK launching controversial vaccine trials where volunteers will be infected with the coronavirus". ABC News. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ Grover, Natalie (7 December 2020). "WHO looks at giving Covid-19 to healthy people to speed up vaccine trials". The Guardian. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ a b Cohen, Jon (20 July 2020). "Controversial 'human challenge' trials for COVID-19 vaccines gain support". Science. doi:10.1126/science.abd9203.
- ^ a b Matthews, Dylan (20 May 2020). "How exposing healthy volunteers to Covid-19 for vaccine testing would work". Vox. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ Grover, Natalie (24 March 2021). "Covid trial infecting healthy volunteers needs full transparency, say campaigners". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 December 2022.
- ^ Monticello, Juston (2 September 2020). "Let Volunteers Expose Themselves to COVID-19 To Speed Up a Vaccine". Reason. Retrieved 12 December 2022.
- ^ a b Blakely, Rhys (24 September 2020). "Britain to run first coronavirus vaccine trials that infect volunteers". The Times. Retrieved 2 December 2022.
More than 100 scientists, including 15 Nobel laureates, called in an open letter in July for preparations to be made for challenge trials. The group was corralled by 1 Day Sooner, an organisation that has gathered the signatures of about 2,000 British volunteers who have said they would take part. A further 35,000 people worldwide have volunteered.
- ^ Corey, Lawrence; Mascola, John R.; Fauci, Anthony S.; Collins, Francis S. (29 May 2020). "A strategic approach to COVID-19 vaccine R&D". Science. 368 (6494): 948–950. doi:10.1126/science.abc5312. PMID 32393526. S2CID 218600299.
- ^ Kahn, Jeffrey P.; Henry, Leslie Meltzer; Mastroianni, Anna C.; Chen, Wilbur H.; Macklin, Ruth (17 November 2020). "For now, it's unethical to use human challenge studies for SARS-CoV-2 vaccine development". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 117 (46): 28538–28542. Bibcode:2020PNAS..11728538K. doi:10.1073/pnas.2021189117. PMC 7682548. PMID 33122444.
- ^ Magee, Zoe (2 March 2021). "4 former surgeons general join call for 'National Vaccine Day'". ABC News. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ Zaleski, Andrew (16 March 2021). "How 'Vaccine Day' Could Boost Inoculations". Bloomberg. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ Gerber, Dana (14 September 2021). "Boston Vaccine Day is an inoculation celebration". The Boston Globe. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ Akhtar, Muizz (20 October 2022). "Josh Morrison took risks for science, and he thinks you can, too". Vox. Retrieved 31 October 2022.
- ^ a b Piper, Kelsey (3 November 2022). "Malawi scientists have a plan to fight one of their country's biggest killers". Vox. Retrieved 12 December 2022.