World News for Students of English

01-10-2020 07:00

Researchers around the world are trying to make a COVID-19 vaccine. A vaccine is a medicine that stops a sickness from making you sick.

Doctors in Chicago, Illinois, USA are doing a blind study. More than 25,000 volunteers are in the study. A blind study is an important part of the testing. Doctors give medicine to the volunteers. However, the volunteers do not know if they get the vaccine or not.

It is possible that they get a placebo. A placebo does not have any effect on the body. However, some people react to it. Doctors study how people react to the medicine. It will take two years.

A black woman is a volunteer in the study. She is 68 years old. She has health problems. COVID-19 can be dangerous for her.

Her friends are not happy. They do not want her to get the vaccine. However, the woman wants to help make the vaccine.

Difficult words: blind study (a test of a drug in which people do not know if they are getting the real drug or not), volunteer (a person who does something because he wants to), placebo (a drug with no effect).

You can watch the original video in the Level 3 section.