COVID-19 Prevention through Vitamin C, D, and Zinc Supplementation: A Small Clinical Study in Two Parts

Abstract

At the time of this study India had the third highest COVID-19 infection rate in the world after the US and Brazil, but that statistic was in flux due to rapidly changing variables and, therefore, it seemed an appropriate setting for a supplementation study. Following a successful first trial of vitamin C, D and zinc supplementation in 2020 with the staff at a small medical clinic in India, a second opportunity arose to continue the trial from January-March 22nd due to an urban coronavirus outbreak during the beginning of March 2021. It resulted in nearly a doubling of COVID-19 cases within the country in two weeks (March 8th - March 22nd) possibly due to the new, highly infectious, Indian Delta variant with multiple mutations and/or other international variants like the UK Alpha variant that were also present in the population by this time. As a result, a nighttime curfew and other restrictions were imposed for the whole month. An outbreak also occurred locally in a nearby city where the incidence of coronavirus cases increased and this happened prior to vaccination of the medical staff as part of the country’s universal inoculation campaign for healthcare workers, which began in January 2021 (one clinic clerk who travelled to the district civil hospital to receive the vaccine during the course of this second study was disqualified; all other clinic staff were inoculated after March 22nd). Although the clinic had closed during the first lockdown between March and mid-June 2020, it remained open to the public for this second wave in March 2021. During this period, the medical & non-medical staff continued following the same supplementation regimen as they had in July-December 2020 for Part I of this trial with positive results. Once again, in Part II of the trial, there were no COVID-19 cases recorded among any of the staff members at the clinic, which is situated in a rural community. It was concluded that targeted vitamin/mineral supplementation may be a useful addition to the anti-COVID-19 arsenal for health professionals at higher than average risk of infection.