Dr Otazu’s sensible suggestion for our coronavirus-fighting tax rands

In April, I interviewed New York Institute of Technology’s Dr Gonzalo Otazu on his widely published research showing a correlation between low Covid-19 mortality rates and childhood BCG vaccinations. There is strong SA interest as we’ve been getting BCG vaccinations here since the 1940s, and universally at birth since 1973.

The NYIT’s correlative study emboldened Stellenbosch University’s Prof Andreas Diacon, who is conducting a clinical trial on 570 medical worker volunteers to see whether revaccination of BCG provides protection against coronavirus. Funding all came from the European Union. He’d love to expand the trial, but is hamstrung by the absence of local financial support.

That’s an awful oversight by business and the State. On Sunday, president Cyril Ramaphosa confirmed SA’s coronavirus mortality rate is a third of the global average. Nobody in the establishment has a cooking clue why. Meantime, since April we’ve had the NYIT’s strong correlative evidence that BCG could be a shield.

In our interview, Dr Otazu wouldn’t venture a way ahead for SA. But this week he wrote me: “The answer I should have given: the SA government should support Prof Diacon’s trial ASAP. If he were to have 10,000 registered subjects, he could have a definitive answer much faster – and that would apply to most people in the world that have received the BCG as children.” Could turn out to be a superior investment of our coronavirus-fighting tax rands.

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