Mumbai: The Maharashtra government has become the first state in India to receive approval to start clinical trials of BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vaccines to treat Covid-19. Officials from the medical education and drug department said the proposal sent by the Haffkine Research Institute to the Drug Control General of India (DCGI) was approved on Saturday.
Preliminary studies carried out by researchers at Haffkine Institute have shown the effectiveness of the vaccine in treating Covid-19 patients. The initial research reportedly shows that people who received BCG vaccines were found to be more immune to Covid-19 than those who did not, said health officials.
Based on the findings, researchers believe the effect of Covid-19 can be reduced in people with mild to moderate symptoms, by administering the BCG vaccine. For those with severe symptoms, the severity of symptoms was reduced to moderate/mild levels when they were administered the vaccine, said the researchers.
The BCG vaccine (Bacillus Calmette Guerin) is used to prevent meningitis. It was developed between 1908 and 1921, by French bacteriologists Albert Calmette and Camille Guerin, who named the product Bacillus Calmette Guerin, or BCG.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), there is no concrete evidence to suggest that the BCG vaccine will protect against the viral infection, but it is a hypothesis that needs to be studied by comparing robust data from places where the vaccine is administered and where it is not.
However, this vaccine is a known immune-modulator. Dr Sanjay Mukherjee, secretary, Medical Education and Drugs Department (MEDD), confirmed the DCGI approval of the proposal.
“Now, as we have received the nod, clinical trials of the BCG vaccine will be done in Poona first. However, there is a lot of speculation around BCG and its possible impact on Covid-19. We will assess if one shot of BCG can mitigate the disease,” he said, adding, “These trials will be conducted at state-run medical colleges and on patients who are severely and moderately ill with Covid-19.”
Health experts said while multiple trials the world over, including one by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), are looking at the vaccine’s efficacy to prevent coronavirus disease, this trial will evaluate whether it can treat the infection.
“Current medical evidence does not say that BCG vaccine protects against Covid-19. We need more data before using it” said Dr Vikrant Shah, consulting physician, intensivist and infectious diseases specialist, Zen Multi speciality Hospital.
