Characterizing altruistic motivation in potential volunteers for SARS-CoV-2 challenge trials

PLoS One. 2022 Nov 2;17(11):e0275823. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0275823. eCollection 2022.

Abstract

In human challenge trials (HCTs), volunteers are deliberately infected with an infectious agent. Such trials can be used to accelerate vaccine development and answer important scientific questions. Starting early in the COVID-19 pandemic, ethical concerns were raised about using HCTs to accelerate development and approval of a vaccine. Some of those concerns pertained to potential exploitation of and/or lack of truly informed consent from volunteers. Specific areas of concern arose around individuals who may be unusually risk-seeking or too economically vulnerable to refuse the payments these trials provide, as opposed to being motivated primarily by altruistic goals. This pre-registered study is the first large-scale survey to characterize people who, early in the pandemic, expressed interest and intention to volunteer to participate in COVID-19 HCTs. We found that individuals expressing interest in SARS-CoV-2 HCTs exhibit consistently altruistic motivations without any special indication of poor risk perception or economic vulnerability. In finding that, early in the pandemic, COVID-19 HCTs were able to attract volunteers whose values align with the nature of these trials, and who are not unusually vulnerable to exploitation, this study may allay some ethical concerns about the volunteers interested in participating in such trials.

Publication types

  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • COVID-19*
  • Humans
  • Motivation
  • Pandemics
  • SARS-CoV-2*
  • Volunteers

Grants and funding

This study was supported by 1Day Sooner in the form of a grant as part of the Open Philanthropy Project, and in the form of salaries for authors SMR, VS, & JM. This study was also supported by 1Day Sooner in the form of additional financial support for MP. The specific roles of these authors are articulated in the ‘author contributions’ section. This study was also supported by National Science Foundation in the form of grants for MM, NE (2039320) and AAM (1729406). The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.