COVID Vaccine Tests in Africa

It should perhaps come as no surprise, then, that we have seen another scorned relic of our past unearthed by the novel coronavirus. This came in the form of an interview featuring Dr. Jean-Paul Mira, head of the intensive care unit at Paris’ Cochin Hospital, and Dr. Camille Locht, Research Director at the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm), that aired on LCI, a French television channel, earlier this year in April. During the interview, Dr. Mira suggested that Inserm carry out trials on the effectiveness of the BCG vaccine, a tuberculosis drug almost a hundred years old, for the prevention of COVID-19 on Africans, who, he expanded, have ‘no masks, treatment or intensive care’, and so ‘are highly exposed and do not protect themselves’. Mira even went as far as to draw parallels between this type of trial and studies of HIV/AIDS among sex workers. Dr. Locht, in his response, agreed with this assessment, and added that Inserm had already begun to consider conducting such a study in Africa.

Both Dr. Mira in his personal capacity and Inserm as an institution have since come forward to apologize for their statements. Inserm clarified that the suggested African trials would complement ongoing research on the BCG vaccine’s effectiveness against COVID-19 in Europe and Australia. As is often the case, however, their apologies and explanation came far too late, and were given only after massive outcry on social media. An online petition calling for disciplinary action against Dr. Mira and Dr. Locht has now gathered over 25,000 signatures.