Australian and European researchers are testing if the Bacille Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, introduced in the 1920s to fight tuberculosis, will be deployed to combat COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus.

Clinical trials are focused on two groups at high-risk for COVID-19: health care workers and the elderly.

The BCG vaccine contains a live but weakened strain of tuberculosis bacteria that provokes the body to develop antibodies to attack TB bacteria. This is called an adaptive immune response, because the body develops a defense against a specific disease-causing microorganism, or pathogen, after encountering it.

Most vaccines create an adaptive immune response to a single pathogen.

Unlike other vaccines, the BCG vaccine may also boost the innate immune system, first-line defenses that keep a variety of pathogens from entering the body or from establishing an infection.

In this study 4,170 participants will be healthcare workers in Australian hospital sites. They will be randomised to receive a single dose of BCG vaccine, or no BCG vaccine. Participants will be followed-up for 12 months with regular mobile phone text messages (up to weekly) and surveys to identify and detail COVID-19 infection.

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