Mixed Results for Vaccines in the Fight Against COVID-19
The BRACE trial investigating the efficacy of the BCG vaccine against COVID-19 found that it does not reduce the risk of healthcare workers contracting the disease. The trial involved almost 7000 healthcare workers across 36 sites in five countries. The vaccine was originally developed to prevent tuberculosis and is still given to over 130 million babies worldwide each year for that purpose. The trial team is also using blood samples collected from participants to discover biomarkers for COVID-19 risk and the effect of the vaccine on other infections.