Will 100 years old TB vaccine be effective against coronavirus, tests are being conducted

indica News Bureau

TB vaccine is almost 100 years old but now the vaccine is being tested for its effects on coronavirus. Health care workers are being given the vaccine as a protection against the deadly coronavirus in Melbourne, Australia. Boston in the US will be another site for such trials. The trial is being conducted on 4000 health care workers. These are still the early days of testing and the results are yet to be seen for the effect of the BCG vaccine for coronavirus (Covid-19).

BCG vaccine for coronavirus

The BCG vaccine has many off-target benefits such as in early-stage bladder cancer. The vaccine also seems to train the body’s immune system to better fight against infections. The World Health Organization (WHO) says that it is important to understand the benefits that the BCG vaccine has in case of infection caused by the Covid-19 virus.

What North says about the effect of TB vaccines on Coronavirus

The trial is being conducted at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute. Here is what the  director Kathryn North says about the ongoing trial: “This trial will allow the vaccine’s effectiveness against Covid-19 symptoms to be properly tested, and may help save the lives of our heroic front-line healthcare workers.”

The trial will be conducted on other sites as well such as Boston in the United States and in Netherlands.

The reason that the health workers are being used to conduct these trails is that they are closely working with coronavirus patients.

North further adds about the trials for TB vaccine for coronavirus:

“Using rapidly sourced and immediately deployable funds, we will be relentless in our pursuit of preventions and treatments for this unprecedented pandemic.

“These trials will allow the rapid advancement of the most promising candidates to clinical practice, giving us the most number of shots on goal against Covid-19 as possible.”

Trials are already being conducted in the US for possible vaccines for coronavirus which has compelled millions of people around the globe to live in isolation.

Also read: potential-vaccines-and-drugs-to-treat-coronavirus-effectively