Scientists studying a niche area in immunology suggest that there is a certain existing live vaccine that can protect us against COVID-19.
As the world waits for the COVID-19 to vanish, the wait for vaccines is much longer. While some scientists believe that a vaccine already pre-exists, tens of thousands of [eiople are losing their lives. Surprising research in a niche area of immunology gives hopes of an already existing live vaccine for decades which can act as a potential vaccine for the current pandemic.
Though these said vaccines more not protect a person completely against the virus, it can be used to make affected people less likely to experience serious symptoms or no symptoms at all. This theory is already in effect around 25 universities, where clinical trials are conducted to test if already existing tuberculosis vaccine, could reduce the risks associated with COVID-19.
The theory is that live vaccine extracted from living but attenuated pathogens (as opposed to inactivate vaccines using dead pathogens) tend to provide ber abroad spectrum protection for infections that no one anticipated.
“We can’t be certain as to what the outcome will be, but I suspect it’ll have an effect on the coronavirus”, said Jeffrey Cirillo, a microbiologist, and immunologist at Texas A&M University
It needs to be stressed that these said vaccines may make the symptoms milder, but probably won’t eliminate them, and the protection if possible will be able to last only a few years.
Still, “these could be the first step,” said Dr. Mihai Netea, an immunologist at Radboud University in the Netherlands. She also added that “In the end, only the clinical trials will give the answer”