It will be held at six sites in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi among approximately 1,500 healthy volunteers over the age of 60.
It is carried out through the National Tb Research Institute (NIRT) at ICMR in Chennai.
“As a component of this multicenter study, which will be conducted at six sites, older people affected by coronavirus infection will get the Bacillus Calmette Guerin (BCG) vaccine. The same BCG vaccine given to newborns as a component of the national immunization program. for more than 50 years in the country will be used in this study,” said one ICMR scientist.
“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 study will document whether BCG vaccine can prevent the occurrence of the SARS-CoV-2 infection and its progression and death associated with COVID-19 among elderly individuals.
BCG is a vaccine against tuberculosis, with non-specific protective effects against other respiratory tract infections in in vitro and in vivo studies, and has reported discounts on morbidity and mortality.
Several clinical trials of the BCG vaccine are already underway in the elderly population around the world.
Participants will get a dose of 0.1 ml BCG vaccine, administered intradermally. Other unvaccinated seniors from the same access point or near the access points will be witnesses.
The volunteers would be followed up closely for a period of six months post vaccination.
Other vaccinated people would be monitored and if some of them become inflamed with COVID-19 later, it would be evaluated whether the BCG vaccine was helpful compared to others of the same age who were not vaccinated.
Click here to read Mint ePaperLivemint.com is now on Telegram. Join the Livemint channel on your telegram and updated
Log in to our to save your favorites. It’ll only take a moment.
Your query has expired, reconnect.
You are now subscribed to our newsletters. If you can’t locate any of our emails, check your spam folder.