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A tuberculosis (TB) vaccine given to more than 100 million babies each year could help adults fight the coronavirus, health experts said, after trials showed it boosts the immune system.
Some 10,000 people will be recruited in the UK to investigate whether the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine could help people fight the coronavirus until more effective vaccines are found.
Australia, the Netherlands, Spain and Brazil are participating in the program, the UK branch of which is led by the University of Exeter.
Professor John Campbell of the university’s medical school said: “BCG has been shown to increase immunity in a generalized way, which may offer some protection against COVID-19. “
The researchers hope, he said, to confirm whether the BCG vaccine could help protect people who are at risk of contracting COVID-19.
“If it does, we could save lives by administering or completing this affordable and cost-effective vaccine,” he added.
Anyone who participates will receive the BCG vaccine, which is currently given to more than 100 million babies worldwide each year to protect them against tuberculosis, or a placebo injection.
Routine BCG vaccination, which started in the UK in 1953, was discontinued in 2005 due to low rates of tuberculosis in the general population.
BCG has previously been shown to reduce susceptibility to a variety of diseases caused by viruses.
The vaccine trains the immune system to work harder against other infections, and researchers want to know why.
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It will be tested on those who work on “the front lines of COVID-19, such as healthcare workers and nursing home workers,” added Professor Campbell.
He said: “Until now, most investigations have overlooked workers in nursing homes.
“The trial provides us with a great opportunity to offer potential help to this important group of individuals who provide health care to some of our most vulnerable citizens in important community settings.”
Bill and Melinda Gates have contributed more than $ 10 million (£ 7.6 million) to the trial, called BRACE, which is being coordinated by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) in Australia.
More than a million people have died after contracting COVID-19 worldwide, and more than 33 million people have contracted the disease, sometimes in its most serious forms.
In the UK, the number of coronavirus-related deaths stands at more than 42,000, while nearly 600,000 people have contracted the disease.
The United Kingdom reported 15,166 other coronavirus cases and 81 more deaths in Saturday’s daily update.
Around 10 million people fell ill with tuberculosis in 2018 worldwide and 1.5 million died, according to figures from the World Health Organization.
