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In the published article, there were errors in the body text. A correction has been made to the Abstract. This sentence previously stated: “These data indicate that BCG vaccination confers some protection against possible COVID-19 among patients older than 50 years with comorbidities.” The corrected sentence appears below: “The ACTIVATE II trial did not meet the primary endpoint of the reduction of the risk for COVID-19 3 months after BCG vaccination; however, the secondary endpoint of the reduction of the risk for COVID-19 6 months after BCG vaccination was met.” A correction has also been made to Results, Study End Points, paragraph 1. This sentence previously stated: “During these first 3 months after the vaccination the overall incidence of COVID-19 in Greece was low, and thus the number of COVID-19 diagnoses was low in both groups (10 patients in placebo vs. two participants in BCG group, p=0.086.” The corrected sentence appears below: “The primary endpoint was met in 10 participants in the placebo group and two participants in the BCG group (p= 0.086). This may be due to the low overall incidence of COVID-19 in Greece the first 3 months after the vaccination.” A correction has also been made to Discussion, paragraph 1. This sentence previously stated. © 2022 Tsilika, Taks, Dolianitis, Kotsaki, Leventogiannis, Damoulari, Kostoula, Paneta, Adamis, Papanikolaou, Stamatelopoulos, Bolanou, Katsaros, Delavinia, Perdios, Pandi, Tsiakos, Proios, Kalogianni, Delis, Skliros, Akinosoglou, Perdikouli, Poulakou, Milionis, Athanassopoulou, Kalpaki, Efstratiou, Perraki, Papadopoulos, Netea and Giamarellos-Bourboulis.

In a recent study of our group with the acronym ACTIVATE, Bacillus Calmete-Guérin (BCG) vaccination reduced the occurrence of new infections compared to placebo vaccination in the elderly. Most benefit was found for respiratory infections. The ACTIVATE-2 study was launched to assess the efficacy of BCG vaccination against coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). In this multicenter, double-blind trial, 301 volunteers aged 50 years or older were randomized (1:1) to be vaccinated with BCG or placebo. The trial end points were the incidence of COVID-19 and the presence of anti–severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (anti–SARS-CoV-2) antibodies, which were both evaluated through 6 months after study intervention. Results revealed 68% relative reduction of the risk to develop COVID-19, using clinical criteria or/and laboratory diagnosis, in the group of BCG vaccine recipients compared with placebo-vaccinated controls, during a 6-month follow-up (OR 0.32, 95% CI 0.13-0.79). In total, eight patients were in need of hospitalization for COVID-19: six in the placebo group and two in the BCG group. Three months after study intervention, positive anti–SARS-CoV-2 antibodies were noted in 1.3% of volunteers in the placebo group and in 4.7% of participants in BCG-vaccinated group. These data indicate that BCG vaccination confers some protection against possible COVID-19 among patients older than 50 years with comorbidities. BCG vaccination may be a promising approach against the COVID-19 pandemic. Copyright © 2022 Tsilika, Taks, Dolianitis, Kotsaki, Leventogiannis, Damoulari, Kostoula, Paneta, Adamis, Papanikolaou, Stamatelopoulos, Bolanou, Katsaros, Delavinia, Perdios, Pandi, Tsiakos, Proios, Kalogianni, Delis, Skliros, Akinosoglou, Perdikouli, Poulakou, Milionis, Athanassopoulou, Kalpaki, Efstratiou, Perraki, Papadopoulos, Netea and Giamarellos-Bourboulis.