Laboratories around the world are looking to deliberately infect people with coronavirus in a bid to find a suitable vaccine.

Kaiser Permanente Washington Health Research Institute in the US is planning to compensate volunteers with US$1100 (NZ$1739.70), while Hvivo in the UK is offering £3500 (NZ$7239.21).

Up to 24 volunteers in the UK will be infected with two common strains of the virus - OC43 and 229E, which will result in mild respiratory illness.

Participants will then be quarantine in Hvivo's London lab for two weeks and monitored. During that time they won't be able to exercise, their diet will be controlled, and samples will be taken from tissues, nasal swabs and blood tests.

READ MORE:

* Coronavirus vaccine trial set to begin this month as scientists search for breakthrough

* Coronavirus: Pandemic plan sets out how the Government will keep Kiwis safe

* Some moral panic might be useful in stopping spread of Covid-19

* Coronavirus: vaccine could come from New Zealand, says research institute director

* Coronavirus is more deadly for men than women

﻿These kinds of trials can help vaccine researchers determine whether their products are working or not in a short amount of time, according to The Times.

"Drugs companies can get a very good idea within a few months of starting a vaccine study whether it's working or not, using such a small sample of people," said Hvivo's chief scientist Andrew Catchpole.

In the US, Kaiser Permanente is trialling its vaccine - mRNA-1273 - but as it is not made from the COVID-19 virus, it won't infect volunteers.

123RF Laboratories around the world are looking to deliberately infect people with coronavirus in a bid to find a suitable vaccine. (File photo).

"The goal of the study is to learn about the safety of the vaccine and how the immune system responds to it," a request on its website read.

The vaccine is new and hasn't been tested on humans before, but it is similar to vaccines created to combat the Zika virus. Participants are required to attend 11 in-person study visits - one initial screening, two vaccination visits, and eight follow-ups - and four phone visits over 14 months.

Participants will be split up into three groups to receive different doses, and will be injected with the vaccine candidate twice in 28 days.

These are just two of the laboratories racing to find a vaccine for the virus that has already infected 109,577 people globally, according to the World Health Organisation's (WHO) latest situation report.

There are 35 vaccine candidates registered with WHO. These are from labs all around the world including Australia, the US, China, India, the UK, Israel, Canada, and Germany.

A team from New Zealand's Malaghan Institute of Medical Research is in the early stages of exploring a possible vaccine.