The common vaccine administered to protect children from tuberculosis has shown significant association with reduced risk of Covid-19 deaths, experts say.
Information
from the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunisation (Gavi), the vaccine known
as Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) produces life-long enhanced immunity against
other respiratory diseases such as Covid-19.
“The
researchers found that every 10 per cent increase in BCG index was associated
with a 10.4 per cent reduction in Covid-19 mortality,” the information on the Gavi
website reads.
The agency
which is behind Covid-19 vaccine development and global sharing, says there are
ongoing studies in countries such as Netherlands and Australia to
determine how exactly the BCG protects people from Covid-19 death.
“This means
that we will only know for certain if BCG vaccine works against Covid-19 once
results of a number of clinical trials have been fully scrutinised,” the
vaccine agency wrote.
BCG is
approved for use in Uganda by National Drug Authority.
