A Korean medical professor has recently said that a vaccine against measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) can help prevent Covid-19 infection.

Professor Kook Hoon of the Department of Pediatrics at Chonnam National University Hwasun Hospital said Thursday that MMR vaccination could help control Covid-19 transmission, as the nation has to wait until the second half of 2021 to form herd immunity.

MMR is a combined vaccine that protects against measles, mumps, and rubella, and Korea runs a program giving the shots twice to children, once after nine to 15 months after their birth and another jab three years later.

Professor Kook backed up his claim with various studies reported worldwide.

For example, a study conducted by Professor Adam Young at the University of Cambridge found that Covid-19 has a similar glycoprotein sequence with measles, mumps, and rubella viruses. Even the world’s best medical center Mayo Clinic reported that people who took MMR shots were less infected by the coronavirus.

Another case supporting his claim is mass infections manifested on the U.S. aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt. About 5,000 crews were on the ship, and 27 percent of them caught the virus. However, 1.7 percent of the infected required hospitalization for intensive care with only one death.

These numbers were far lower than those aggregated in the mainland U.S., where 21 percent of infected people needed hospitalization. Researchers found that those aboard the ship received MMR jabs before their enlistment.

The MMR vaccine is live-attenuated, using a weakened form of the virus that causes a disease. Other studies also showed that these live MMR vaccines play an antiviral role by enhancing non-specific immunity.

A research team led by Dr. Jeffrey Gold of the World Organization revealed that asymptomatic Covid-19 patients had high mumps titer from MMR vaccinations. At the same time, those who required hospitalization or intensive care were armed with lower mumps titer.

“The Covid-19 vaccination is likely to begin next month, and we expect to acquire herd immunity by the end of the year, but we are still facing difficulties, including safety profile, antibody production rate, and possible variant strain,” Professor Kook said. “This is time for us to try to find a silver bullet called the MMR vaccination until then.”