A UK laboratory is seeking volunteers to be infected with coronavirus, and be paid for it, in the race to find a vaccine for COVID-19.

Those who put their hand up for it will be forced into quarantine for two weeks, with no physical contact with the outside world.

Anyone willing to take up the challenge for the greater good will also be paid AUD$6,900 for it, The Times reports.

Up to 24 volunteers at a time will be infected with two common strains of coronavirus, 0C43 and 229E, which will cause mild respiratory illness.

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They will be kept at Hvivo’s laboratory at Queen Mary BioEnterprises Innovation Centre in east London.

Each volunteer will have to disclose their medical history and undergo several tests before being selected.

During the two weeks, participants won’t be able to exercise and what they eat will be controlled.

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Doctors and nurses tending to the volunteers will collect used tissues, take nasal swabs and blood tests.

“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,” Hvivo’s chief scientist Andrew Catchpole said.

The lab is planning to begin the testing once it receives permission from the UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency.

The company is just one of 20 global firms racing to find a COVID-19 vaccine ready for next winter.