Needle Free! India Gets First Intranasal Vaccine Against COVID-19; All You Need To Know

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) on Tuesday (September 6) approved Bharat Biotech's first-of-its-kind needle-free intranasal vaccine for COVID-19. An effort has been taken to boost the country's arsenal of vaccines against the contagious virus.

According to officials, the nasal vaccine has been approved only for immunising people aged 18 years and above, and the vaccines are limited for use in an Emergency. The Bharat Biotech said that the nasal vaccine is safe for use, well tolerated, and immunogenic in subjects in controlled clinical trial phase III. The company claimed that the vaccine was administered to a candidate in Phase I and II clinical trials with satisfactory results.

The Managing Director of Bharat Biotech, Krishna Ella, said, "the firm completed clinical trials of the nasal vaccine with about 4,000 volunteers, and there is no single instance of side effect or adverse reaction reported so far."

Origin Of Nasal Vaccine

The nasal vaccine introduced by Bharat Biotech uses a chimpanzee cold virus to deliver a harmless coronavirus spike protein in the nose lining. It has been made to allow intranasal delivery of vaccines and has been developed in association with Washington University St Louis, reported News18.

The Bharat Biotech, before sending the vaccine for approval, performed its pre-clinical safety evaluation, manufacturing scale-up, delivery device development, and human clinical trials. The centre partially contributed to this initiative through the Department of Biotechnology's COVID Suraksha Programme.

Could It Become A Game-Changer?

According to Bharat Biotech, the nasal route has excellent potential for vaccination as the immune system of the nasal mucosa is organised. They said that it has another advantage of being needle-free and non-invasive, and it also does not require any trained health care worker for its administration into the human body. The company claims that the intranasal vaccine will also eliminate the risk of infection and injuries.

Earlier, it was hard for the arm-injected vaccine to reach the nasal cavity where the COVID-19 virus is dominant. But after the intranasal vaccine, a new strategy to prevent infection can be seen.

The Indian vaccination market has been dominated by Covidshield and Covaxin, developed by Serum Institute of India and Bharat Biotech. Both of the vaccines are administered through injections. The new transformation of adding vaccines to the human body seems to come with a broader approach to preventing virus spread.

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