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Science Round-Up: Danish researchers assess old vaccine’s suitability for fighting the coronavirus
Roselyne Min
April 14th, 2020
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Researchers hope the results will be encouraging (photo: Pixnio/Bicanski)
A group of Danish researchers are assessing the effectiveness of some old vaccines against the coronavirus.
Could Calmette be effective?
Among others, the research team has found that the 100-year-old Calmette vaccine helps the body’s immune system.
The vaccine was originally developed for tuberculosis.
A bit of Dutch coverage
The Danish research team has been collaborating with researchers in the Netherlands, where over the past two weeks more than 1,000 healthcare workers have been vaccinated.
The researchers’ hypothesis is that the Calmette vaccine could reduce symptoms and even reduce the risk of somebody getting infected with the coronavirus.
Gov criticised for lack of support for national vaccine
Some Danish researchers and scientists, including from Statens Serum Institut, have blamed the government for failing to present a comprehensive strategy for a vaccine and treatment program. Many despair at how the government has not initiated anything tangible, even though the Danish pharmaceutical industry, hospitals and universities have more than enough skills and researchers to find a vaccine and a treatment. Skejby Lars Østergaard, a professor and senior consultant in the infection department at Aarhus University Hospital, told Jyllands Posten that “there is enormous untapped potential” for Denmark to find a vaccine and a treatment.
Danish astronomers discover monster supernova
Danish astronomers, together with international scientists, have found a supernova that has shone more brightly and for a longer period than any other in the galaxy. A supernova, which happens about once every 100 years in our galaxy, occurs when a star violently explodes. The University of Copenhagen has called it “the queen of all supernovae”. The Dark Cosmology Centre at the Niels Bohr Institute told TV2 it shone for a full 600 days. Usually a supernova glows between 10 and 100 days.
Rare flowers stolen from national park
Over the Easter holiday the rare pasqueflower disappeared en mass from a national park. Mols Bjerge National Park has mapped the total population of the plant and there are not many left. According to the park, rare blue anemone were also stolen from the area by visitors last year. The park warns that wild plants must be seen in the wild and not taken home. According to TV2, Danish nature holds about 20 percent of the world’s pasqueflower stock.
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