Covid-19 Vaccine | China
China to begin human trials for first nasal spray COVID-19 Vaccine: Report
Beijing/IBNS: China’s first nasal spray vaccine for coronavirus infection is all set to enter the trial phase with 100 volunteers, Chinese government-run Global Times reported.
The human trials for the only nasal spray vaccine approved by China's National Medical Products Administration will enter the first phase in November.
The vaccine has been developed in collaboration between the microbiologists of Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland, involving researchers of the University of Hong Kong, Xiamen University, and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy.
The vaccine, in the form of nasal spray, works by stimulating the natural infection pathway of respiratory viruses to trigger the immune response.
The vaccine can provide double protection from influenza and novel coronavirus if it also contains influenza viruses including H1N1, H3N2 and B, Microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong, Yuen Kwok-yung said, adding that the trials will take at least another year to complete.
According to the Global Times report, the nasal spray vaccine, which uses live attenuated influenza vaccine, will be easier to administer and mass produce as it will be produced following the mature influenza vaccine production technology.
China is using adenoviral vector-based vaccines, inactivated vaccines and DNA and mRNA vaccines to develop the coronavirus vaccines.
The inactivated vaccine is estimated to be available in the market first, the report said.
The new vaccine is unlikely to cause systemic side effects, but side effects like asthma and shortness of breath may occur, immunologists said.
However, Yuen Kwok-yung said scientists do not expect side-effects except for minor ones like minor nasal obstruction or rhinorrhea could be possible.
The Global Times report said it is still not clear if the immunity generated from this vaccination will be longer in duration than for injected vaccines.
China has approved three COVID-19 vaccine candidates for clinical trials.
Additionally, it has also authorised emergency usage of COVID-19 vaccines developed by select domestic companies, among people who are at high risk of getting infected in a limited period of time.
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