In an attempt to find a cure or just a vaccine for Covid-19, many have come out with a myriad of solutions. Some sensible, most not. Now, the medical fraternity is now trying out the effect of BCG vaccines on healthy people in close contact with patients of Covid-19.
BCG vaccines are primarily used to increase immunity against tuberculosis. Now these vaccines are being tested on 175 healthcare workers in Haryana. These people will be observed for 180 days. These are only some of the subjects out of the 5,946 people test pool. Even though this vaccine has a huge impact on reducing the chances of tuberculosis (by almost 90%), there is no proof that it will have any effect on Covid-19. Only 5 hospitals all over India have been authorized to run these tests. These include- PGIMS (Rohtak), EM Hospital and Bharti Vidyapeeth (Pune), King George Hospital (Visakhapatnam), and Sun Hospital (Bhubaneshwar). People who have received a dose of this vaccine recently, those with previous health conditions, respiratory problems, and even tuberculosis are not being included in the test pool.
The World Health Organisation does not recommend the use of BCG vaccines to try and prevent Covid-19 without any evidence that it will work, but in this time of medical desperation, we’re doing whatever we can. The only question is, does this vaccine stand even a microscopic chance against the Coronavirus?
