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.
Now, Gizmodo reports a group of scientists is proposing doing just that to protect people from the novel coronavirus COVID-19.
The authors include scientists at the U.S. National Institutes of Health as well as Robert Gallo, one of the researchers who discovered HIV.
In a new paper published Thursday, they argue that we can use existing vaccines to provide temporary immunity against the coronavirus.
They advocate clinical trials using the existing stock of oral polio vaccine. At least one trial is being planned in the US.
There are already at least two clinical trials studying whether the vaccine for tuberculosis can improve immunity to COVID-19 infection.
