Aussie trial of BCG vax for coronavirus goes global
Spanish and Dutch doctors and nurses will join Australian ones in testing the vaccine's effectiveness at preventing severe disease
An Aussie trial testing the effectiveness of the tuberculosis BCG vaccine against COVID-19 in doctors and nurses on the frontline is going international thanks to a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
More than 2500 staff from Melbourne, Adelaide and Perth hospitals have already enrolled in the research to test the vaccine’s effectiveness against the novel viral infection.
Now they are to be joined by healthcare workers from the Netherlands and Spain in the BRACE trial, run by the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute in Melbourne.
The researchers are assessing whether the BCG vaccine, which boosts immunity, can protect healthcare workers exposed to SARS-CoV-2 from developing severe symptoms.
