Vietnam to study effectiveness of tuberculosis vaccine in fighting Covid-19

Blood samples collected from workers and traders at Ngã Tư Sở wholesale market in Hanoi on April 18 as part of the city's efforts to widen Covid-19 testing in the community. — VNA/VNS

HANOI (Vietnam News/ANN): Up to 800 Vietnamese frontline healthcare workers have agreed to take part in a clinical trial designed to test the effectiveness of a tuberculosis vaccine against Covid-19.

The participants will be given at random a dose of Bacille Calmette-Guérin (BCG) vaccine – developed a hundred years ago to combat tuberculosis – to confirm reports suggesting the vaccine might provide protection against the worst effects of the novel strain of coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2), as the entire world is desperate for treatment method against the unprecedented pandemic.