In a perspective piece published in the journal Science, a small international team of researchers is suggesting that the oral polio vaccine be tested to see if it might protect people from infection by the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

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In their paper, Konstantin Chumakov, Christine Benn, Peter Aaby, Shyamasundaran Kottili, and Robert Gallo suggest the vaccine has been found to provide some protection against other viral infections, and point out that it has been proven to be safe over many years.

Polio vaccines are, of course, vaccines that are used to prevent poliomyelitis infections. They have been in use since the 1950s. Polio vaccines come in two varieties: inactivated (administered by injection) and weakened (administered orally). Together, the two vaccines have nearly eradicated polio. They have also been found to confer some degree of immunity against other types of infections, both bacterial and viral. In their paper, the researchers argue for testing to see if the oral (weakened) vaccine might prove effective in preventing COVID-19 infections.