AUSTIN, Texas — As Texas begins to reemerge from life in lockdown, an effective vaccine is still crucial to combating the virus. Researchers at Texas A&M University are hoping an old vaccine could combat this new virus. 

Dr. Jeffrey Cirillo is microbiologist and immunologist who's leading the trial repurposing a century-old tuberculosis vaccine to fight the coronavirus. He says there’s evidence that this vaccine could combat severe viral infections like COVID-19. Since the vaccine already exists, it could possibly be available sooner than other treatments being developed. 

“Luckily, it already has FDA approval…if we get data over the next couple of months suggesting that it shows it reduces severity of disease and incident of disease, we should be able to get it out to the public very quickly,” Cirillo said in an interview with Capital Tonight. 

Meanwhile, biotech company Moderna says it has been seeing promising results from its human vaccine trials. In that study, all of the participants who were vaccinated developed neutralizing antibodies. 

Still, more research and trials will be needed before any vaccine will be available to the public. 

Click the video link above to watch our full interview with Cirillo.