Can BCG vaccine reduce COVID mortality rate in elderly? Tamil Nadu to launch trial soon

Tamil Nadu will launch a trial to study the efficacy of Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine in reducing COVID-19 mortality rate in the elderly, state's Health Minister Dr C Vijayabaskar said on Wednesday.

As ordered by Chief Minister E Palaniswami, the BCG vaccine shall be administered on a trial basis, on adults aged 60-95, with the aim of reducing the COVID mortality rate in this age group, Vijayabaskar said.

The National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) will start the pilot programme soon, he said.

BCG is administered to children for tuberculosis prevention in various countries.

According to a Tamil Nadu government release, the BCG vaccine helps improve innate immunity and there is a possibility that it could also reduce COVID-19 morbidity and mortality rates in the elderly aged 60 to 95 years.

After considering that there were no appropriate drugs for the treatment of COVID-19, the state government had sought ICMR's approval to study the efficacy of the BCG vaccine in the elderly. ICMR has granted the approval and the trial would start soon at NIRT, an ICMR institute.

The study would focus on the vaccine’s potential in reducing COVID-19-related morbidity, preventing hospitalisation, and reducing mortality among the elderly population.

The chances of COVID-19 infection among the elderly, especially those co-morbid conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and cardiac diseases, is believed to be high.

While the World Health Organisation (WHO) says there is no evidence that the BCG protects people against infection with COVID-19 virus, two peer-reviewed studies released last week, including one led by Indian researchers from New Delhi's Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) Delhi, have concluded that it does prevent severe infection and death from coronavirus disease.