A recent study has established the BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccine as a potential accelerator of immunity against the novel Wuhan virus. This was published by the members of the Emirates International Hospital in UAE, wherein they were administered with the vaccine in March. By the end of June, they were tested for COVID-19. The testing was done using the Reverse Transcription Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) tests, that are being used for testing Wuhan virus cases.
This is the fifth study that has shown the efficiency of the BCG vaccine to be a potential immunity booster to combat the effects caused by the novel Wuhan virus.
BCG is the vaccine that is usually administered to children at a very young age, especially in countries like India, to prevent childhood tuberculosis. A lot of researchers have also attributed the increased rate of recovery from coronavirus in India to the BCG.
Meanwhile, India has been conducting its research on this vaccine’s efficacy. About 1000 healthy volunteers above 60-years of age are being recruited in six states with high Covid-19 disease burden, and will be followed up for six months.“The process has begun at NIRT, which is identified as the nodal institute to spearhead the study. It is too early to comment on the results, but we will share information when there is an update,” said Dr Rajnikant Srivastava, spokesperson, ICMR.
The states where the study has been planned are Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi.