The ICMR will conduct a multicenter examination to assess whether the BCG vaccine, used as opposed to tuberculosis, can prevent the onset of coronavirus infection and the severity of disease and mortality in older adults living in sensitive areas.
It will be held in Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan and Delhi in approximately 1,500 healthy volunteers over the age of 60, said an ICMR scientist.
On 15 July, the Government of Tamil Nadu already sanctioned the trial through ICMR’s National Tb Research Institute (NIRT) in Chennai for the effectiveness of the BCG vaccine in the elderly.
The BCG-COVID trial, sponsored by ICMR, would be conducted in five other centres: the National Institute of Occupational Health, Ahmedabad, the National Institute of Environmental Health Research in Bhopal, GS Medical College and KEM Hospital in Mumbai, the National Non-Communicable Institute. Disease implementation research in Jodhpur and AIIMS, New Delhi.
“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 scientist ICMR.
“The goal is to see if the shooting can prevent the onset of a coronavirus infection and the severity of the disease and the mortality rate in the elderly living in sensitive areas,” the scientist said.
There are pre-established criteria on the exam that will determine a volunteer’s eligibility to participate in this exam.
Volunteers will be monitored for six months after vaccination.
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