Scientists have been doing extensive research whether the BCG vaccine utilized against tuberculosis, can forestall the symptoms of covid-19 infection and decrease the seriousness of the illness and mortality?
The India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) is good to go to lead an investigation to assess the viability of the BCG inoculation in older people between 60 to 95 years old living in COVID-19 hotspots in India and plans to repurpose it’s use.
This study will be done on large scale in six locales in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi in around 1,500 healthy volunteers. The ICMR’s National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) in Chennai is spearheading the investigation, where a total of 1450 candidates will be vaccinated to observe the safety ad efficacy.
The BCG vaccine is injected to new born children to protect them from tuberculosis. Doctors have been giving like this for the last 50 years and observed that after administering BCG vaccine in children, they did not develop any respiratory complications. It was assumed that it could be beneficial in elder covid-19 patients too.
Hence, the recent study shows that this vaccine looks promising. Currently there are three most pressing questions to be investigated. 1. Does this vaccine prevent covid-19? 2. If not so, will the severity of virus mitigate? and 3. Will this vaccine reduce the fatality?