Inoculating entire populations with a intra nasal vaccine would be faster in the thick of a covid19 viral infection surge than injections, which require skill and time to administer. A nasal vaccine is likely to be more agreeable to many (including children) than painful injections, and would not only offset shortages of needles, syringes and other materials but also will minimize e-waster.
Scientist, Founder & Chairman of Bharat Biotech which is developing the intra nasal vaccine says “Nasal vaccines can be administered easily in mass inoculation campaigns and reduce transmission.”
Vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech has received approval to conduct Phase-III clinical trials of an intranasal booster dose on people who have received both doses of Covaxin. The Drug Controller General of India today gave the go-ahead for the Phase-III trials. The trials will be conducted at nine locations in the country.
An intranasal vaccine as a booster will be easier to administer in mass vaccination drives.
Bharat Biotech has said that the nasal vaccine, BBV154, stimulates immune responses at the site of infection — the nose — and is very effective in blocking infection and transmission of Covid-19.
It has also underlined how easily a nasal vaccine can be administered and the fact that it would not need trained healthcare workers.
There are at least a dozen other nasal vaccines in development worldwide, some of them now in Phase 3 trials. But Bharat Biotech’s may be the first to become available. In January, the company won approval to begin a Phase 3 trial of the nasal spray in India as a booster for people who have already received two shots of a Covid vaccine.
The Omicron variant made it all too clear that even three doses of a vaccine, while they provide powerful protection against severe illness, may not prevent infection. That’s because injected vaccines produce antibodies in the blood, comparatively few of which make it to the nose, the entryway for the virus.
So-called mucosal vaccines ideally would coat the mucosal surfaces of the nose, mouth and throat with long-lasting antibodies, and would be much better at preventing infection and spread of the virus. It is the difference between planting sentries at the gates to bar intruders and trying to oust them after they had already stormed the castle.
Intranasal Vaccine as a booster induced immune memory cells and antibodies in nose and throat
An intranasal Vaccine booster induced immune memory cells and antibodies in the nose and throat, and strengthened protection from the initial vaccination, the researchers reported. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal.
The current Covid vaccines are injected into muscle, and excel at training immune cells to tackle the virus after it enters the body. They produce antibodies called IgG that circulate in the blood and can be marshaled when needed.
But few of these antibodies travel to the nose and throat, and even those that do wane quickly.
By contrast, nasal vaccines produce a special set of antibodies, called IgA, that thrive on mucosal surfaces like the nose and throat. And these antibodies may wane more slowly.
in a recent article in New York Times it was reported Nasal vaccines under development around the world may make better boosters by stopping the coronavirus in the airways.
Nasal vaccines are “the only way to really circumvent person-to-person transmission,” said Jennifer Gommerman, an immunologist at the University of Toronto. “We can’t live forever sheltering vulnerable people and boosting them so that their antibody levels stay artificially high.”
Nasal vaccines have been shown to protect mice, ferrets, hamsters and monkeys against the coronavirus. A new study last week offered powerful evidence in support of their use as a booster.
An intranasal booster induced immune memory cells and antibodies in the nose and throat, and strengthened protection from the initial vaccination, the researchers reported. The study has not yet been published in a scientific journal – The New York Times reported
