The government has said it would initially spend £33.6 million on the studies, but regulators and the ethics committees will need to approve the study before they can move forward.
If approved, a potential vaccine which has proven to be safe in initial trials will be offered to healthy volunteers between the ages of 18 and 30. In a controlled environment, they will then be exposed to COVID-19 and monitored 24 hours a day to see if the vaccine works and whether there are any side effects.
Study advocates believe the approach will produce results quicker than conventional studies, as volunteers are not waiting to be exposed to the disease-which could potentially save thousands of lives.
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