The century-old TB vaccination is cheap and readily available on a continent that may be overwhelmed by Covid-19
A researcher studying the BCG vaccine for TB examines test samples in a TASK laboratory in Cape Town, May 11 2020. Picture: REUTERS/MIKE HUTCHINGSrin vaccine in Africa against Covid-19 was bound to cause controversy, yet officials say efforts underway could, if successful, give the continent a cheap and easily deployable weapon against the coronavirus.
Three thousand health workers are eventually expected to be involved in the trial overall. Researchers expect preliminary results within six months in the year-long trial. “Perhaps it works, perhaps it doesn’t, but it’s definitely worth trying ... [because] we just need to know if it can help us through this Covid-19 crisis,” he said at TASK’s high-security mycobacteriology laboratory.
Yet the vaccine is widely regarded as safe, and officials involved in the trial at Tygerberg hospital in Cape Town point out that it is so readily available in Africa and the developing world that poor countries with limited health resources could benefit massively from the discovery that the shot is effective.
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