Like many countries the world over, India too has decided to take a closer look at whether Bacille Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine will help prevent or help people fight off Covid-19 infection and reduce the number of deaths due to the virus.
In this direction, the India Council of Medical Research (ICMR) will soon initiate a study to evaluate the effectiveness of the BCG vaccine in elderly individuals between 60 and 95 years of age residing in Covid-19 containment zones in the country. This study will be carried out in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, and Delhi in approximately 1,500 healthy volunteers above 60 years of age, the ICMR stated.
The ICMR’s National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) in Chennai is heading the study. “As a part of this multi-centric study which will be carried out at six sites, elderly people not affected by coronavirus infection, will be given the BCG vaccine,” an ICMR scientist said.
The same BCG vaccine that is administered to newborn babies as a part of the National Immunisation programme for more than 50 years in the country will be used in this study. BCG is a vaccine against tuberculosis, with protective non-specific effects against other respiratory tract infections in in-vitro and in-vivo studies, and reported significant reductions in morbidity and mortality.
“The objective is to see if the shots can prevent the occurrence of the coronavirus infection and reduce the severity of the disease and mortality rate among the elderly individuals residing in hotspot areas,” the scientist said.
The participants will be administered one dose of 0.1ml BCG vaccine, given intradermally. Elderly individuals not vaccinated from the same hotspot area or from neighbouring hotspot wards areas will be considered as the controls.
The volunteers would be followed up closely for a period of six months post vaccination.
There are several clinical trials using BCG vaccine already undergoing on elderly population across the globe. For instance, researchers at Baylor College of Medicine in the US have already started a clinical trial to assess the vaccine, for its activity against Covid-19. Researchers in Australia have also launched a very similar trial and are hoping to study more than 4,000 healthcare workers, tracking their progress with email surveys and text messages.