Esther Broset: “The best vaccine is the one they can give you”

Just published a study showing that vaccines work better as a team. How do they know?

Although in theory each vaccine is specific for a disease, we have seen that in countries that vaccinate against tuberculosis in addition to whooping cough, there are up to ten times fewer cases of whooping cough. Although they are vaccines that do not have much to do with each other, if both are administered, they protect better.

Could this also work with covid? Could being vaccinated against tuberculosis make the coronavirus vaccine more protective?

It is an interesting hypothesis to explore. It is not yet one hundred percent proven, but it seems that, since the BCG vaccine against tuberculosis is a live bacteria, although attenuated, it produces a very strong immune response that lasts over time. Therefore, it has an amplifying effect if you are administered a second vaccine. In Spain it is no longer on the vaccination calendar. My mother has the mark on her arm; my generation, not anymore.

Could you consider administering this vaccine again to strengthen our immune system against what may come?

I support re-vaccinating with BCG at birth, because although it does not fully protect against tuberculosis, it activates the immune system.

Anyone who has researched tuberculosis sees the pandemic figures from a different perspective.

We see that the figures are very close: the coronavirus killed 2020 million people in 1,8 and tuberculosis kills 1,4 million every year. For hundreds of years, and with even higher numbers that have been decreasing thanks to vaccination and antibiotics. It is the infectious disease that has killed the most in history, more than AIDS or plagues. The problem is that this happens in Africa and Asia; Although it has been a health emergency for many years, no attention is paid to it.

People who know about vaccines, as is your case, will be tired of answering questions lately.

It is funny. Since the first vaccines were approved, my friends began to write to me asking me questions and I sent them audios that they in turn forwarded to her sister-in-law and this to her co-workers... and at the end there is your audio explaining something to everyone sides.

That's fine, being viral, but good. What do they ask you most?

Above all, what is RNA and what vaccine would I get if I had the choice? I tell them: all of them, the best vaccine is the one they can give you. Side effects are also very worrying, but they are minimal compared to any medication we take every time we have a headache.

Sometimes he will say: we don't know this.

It annoys me a lot when they respond: "But how could you not know, if you're a scientist!" People do not recognize how much it costs to advance in research and that, despite being such a new disease, we have had a vaccine in one year, when the minimum is ten.

Does an immune passport make sense for travel?

We still don't know if vaccinated people can be contagious, but above all, we have to ask ourselves if it is fair. It would be discriminatory, because being vaccinated or not depends on whether you live in a rich country. Let's let a little time pass and all the questions will be resolved. We lack patience; We have become accustomed to living very well.

In Gibraltar, with 80% of the population vaccinated, they already go without a mask on the street.

That will come, but it will cost. It takes time and vaccination. Having doses to do mass vaccinations is the limiting step. In a few days of vaccinating non-stop, we will forget about the coronavirus if veterinarians, dentists are authorized to vaccinate..., like in the US.

He returned from there recently. What caused the greatest contrast?

See everyone here with a mask. Listening to Trump's stupidity was surreal. I missed the best: we changed president and if I had stayed a little, I would have been vaccinated by now.