Coronavirus morning recap: Latest on vaccines, and fears of ‘super-spreader’ event in Cape Town


LATEST SCIENCE AND RESEARCH
READ | Trial launched in SA to test whether MMR vaccine protects healthcare workers against Covid-19
Scientists from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and Witwatersrand (Wits) are launching a clinical trial to test whether the childhood vaccine for measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) can protect frontline health-care workers from Covid-19, the disease caused by SARS-CoV-2, or reduce the severity of illness for infected individuals.
Researchers of the trial are hoping to learn whether the vaccine can elicit an immune response that slows the spread of the virus and protects frontline healthcare workers who work in high-risk settings from developing Covid-19.
The MMR vaccine was approved almost 50 years ago and has since been safely given safely to hundreds of millions of people around the world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) states that the vaccine is widely used for