The idea of repurposing vaccines for other diseases isn't new. It dates back to when the oral polio vaccine was first widely used in the 1960s and 70s.<br />Now, Gizmodo reports a group of scientists is proposing doing just that to protect people from the novel coronavirus COVID-19.<br />The authors include scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health as well as Robert Gallo, one of the researchers who discovered HIV.<br />In a new paper published Thursday, they argue that we can use existing vaccines to provide temporary immunity against the coronavirus.<br />They advocate clinical trials using the existing stock of oral polio vaccine. At least one trial is being planned in the US.<br />There are already at least two clinical trials studying whether the vaccine for tuberculosis can improve immunity to COVID-19 infection.
