China To Start Trial Of First Nasal Spray Vaccine For Covid 19| Know All About It

China has approved a nasal spray vaccine for Covid 19. Trials of the vaccine candidate is set to begin from November.

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New Delhi: China has approved a nasal spray vaccine and will begin the first phase of trials in November. The vaccine is a collaborative effort between mainland China and Hong Kong. The coronavirus vaccine candidate which is the form of a nasal spray has been developed by the Department of Microbiology of the University of Hong Kong, Xiamen University, and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy. According to China Daily, the Hong Kong University on Wednesday announced that the clinical trials for the nasal spray vaccine has been approved by China's National Medical Products Administration. The State Key Laboratory of Emerging Infectious Diseases has been working on the vaccine with Xiamen University and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy. Hong Kong University said in a statement according to China Daily, that its vaccine strategy has been selected as one of the five vaccine technologies by the Ministry of Science and Technology for further evaluation. Nasal spray vaccine is sprayed into the nose rather than being injected. There is a nasal spray vaccine is also available for influenza. It contains weakened forms of the flu virus. According to a Global Times report, Yuen Kwok-yung, a leading microbiologist from the University of Hong Kong said the vaccine stimulates the natural infection pathway of respiratory viruses to activate the immune response. Yuen told Global Times that the nasal spray vaccination could generate double protection for vaccine recipients - influenza and the novel coronavirus — if it also contains influenza viruses including H1N1, H3N2, and B. Hong Kong University will recruit 100 volunteers for the first phase of the trials, and it will take at least a year to finish the three phases of trials, the Global Times report said. An immunologist from Beijing told the Global Times on Thursday that compared with injections, a nasal spray vaccination is easier to administer. This makes it easier to mass-produce and distribute as it adopts the mature influenza vaccine production technology. The immunologist also said the new vaccine may not cause systemic side effects, but side effects may occur in the respiratory system such as asthma and shortness of breath. Watch Now| No let-up in Covid cases, will India now change its fighting strategy?