COVID-19: TN govt gives consent to BCG trial at ICMR’s Chennai institute

Chennai, July 15

Sanction has been accorded to a trial by the Indian Council of Medical Research’s Tuberculosis institute here to study the efficacy of BCG vaccine in the elderly in the fight against COVID-19, the government said on Wednesday.

Chief Minister K Palaniswami, in an order, has given the state’s approval after the ICMR sought Tamil Nadu government’s permission to study the efficacy of the Bacillus Calmette- Gurin (BCG) vaccine in senior citizens at its National Institute for Research in Tuberculosis (NIRT) at Chetpet here,Health Minister C Vijayabaskar said.

“The ICMR’s tuberculosis institute is set to begin the trial very soon,” he said in a statement.

He hoped that vaccinating the elderly with the time-tested BCG would help reduce the intensity of COVID-19, admissions at hospitals and mortality rates.

Describing the state’s approval by Palaniswami for a trial here as among measures to protect people’s welfare during the ongoing fight against COVID-19, Vijayabaskar said anti-viral measures would further be stepped up.

The NIRT under the ICMR is an internationally recognised institution for TB research. PTI