How the COVID-19 Pandemic Can Stimulate Interdisciplinary Scientific Research

The article deals with the impact of reports of the immune-stimulating effect of the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccination and its potential effect against COVID-19 in Bulgaria. The study delineates the media coverage and public commentaries on the topic and the ways in which names of individuals and institutions are rescued from oblivion in the new, pandemic context. Attention is paid to the public discussions on social stratification, on the dependencies between medicine, politics and economy, and on the role of the state in the recent past and today. By this concrete example, the author also presents a starting ERC synergy project (2020–2026) on the history of post-war Europe through the prism of medicine and health: “European Leviathan: The Legacy of Post-War Medicine and the Common Good”.