Tuberculosis vaccine - BCG

The tuberculosis vaccine was introduced into the vaccination calendar in our country as early as 1955. According to the current calendar, the vaccine is given to newborns in the first days of life, just before they leave the hospital, although, of course, there may be some deviations for medical reasons. The BCG (Bacillus Calmette-Guerin) vacc ine was invented more than 100 years ago and has been administered to several billion people since its introduction in 1921. The BCG vaccine is controversial among those challenging the validity of vaccination, who point out that it can be dangerous because it contains in its composition not live, but only weakened mycobacteria. The TB vaccine is no longer compulsory in the richest countries of the world - such as Germany, but also in Spain and Portugal.

Link between BCG vaccine and coronavirus incidence

The researchers observed that on the infection map, it is possible to see countries where both the incidence and the number of deaths among the infected are much lower than in others (per capita). For example, researchers in Germany observed significant differences between the incidence in the former FRG, where TB vaccination ceased in the 1970s, and the GDR, where children were vaccinated until the early 1990s. The situation was similar in the Iberian peninsula, where compulsory vaccination against TB was abolished many years ago. Significant differences were observed between Spain and Portugal, which abolished compulsory vaccination 17 years ago. Portuguese people contract COVID-19 less frequently than Spaniards.

The researchers' conjecture can also be confirmed by metadata from the USA, the UK or Italy, where compulsory vaccination against tuberculosis has been abolished. The researchers point out that the incidence of coronavirus is much lower in the post-Soviet communist bloc countries, where there was or still is an obligation to vaccinate with the BCG vaccine. The data therefore seem so convincing that the medical services in Australia have announced that they will vaccinate more than 4 000 health care workers with the BCG vaccine. Other countries, such as Belgium and Greece, are also considering this step. Does this mean that the old vaccine, which is more than a century old, will prove to be theblack horse in the fight against the new pathogen? We will see soon enough. But let's remember: even though Poles have been and are being vaccinated against tuberculosis, this does not absolve us of our obligation to comply with the isolation order, limited trips to the shop and care for hygiene.