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A nasal Covid-19 vaccine could help control the Covid-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization said Wednesday after India and China approved homegrown products.
The WHO welcomes the new front in the fight against the virus – but also says it wants to see the data behind the vaccines to assess whether to approve them.
On Sunday, China launched the world’s first inhalable Covid vaccine, Convidecia Air, made by CanSino Biologics and administered via a nebulizer.
India on Tuesday approved a nasally-administered Covid-19 vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech for emergency use.
Mike Ryan, WHO’s emergencies director, said the nasal vaccine produced an immune response in the respiratory lining of the lungs.
“You’re forming the first line of defense where the virus comes in and does a lot of damage,” he explained.
In doing so, the nasal vaccine may prevent a person from getting infected and spreading the virus.
Ryan cites how nasal and injectable vaccines can be used in combination to combat diseases such as polio to provide comprehensive protection for internal systems.
In the long run, reducing the severity of the infection and the chances of continued transmission “may give us a stronger outlook for Covid-19 control,” he told a news conference.
He encouraged innovation in the development of second- and third-generation vaccines “that we may ultimately need to address the end of Covid-19 and address future respiratory virus threats.”
Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s Covid-19 technical lead, welcomed the news.
“We look forward to seeing the data and seeing how it can be incorporated into the response to Covid-19,” she said.
Both CanSino and Bharat Biotech have WHO-approved injectable Covid-19 vaccines.
Mary Angela Simao, the WHO’s head of vaccine acquisition, confirmed that neither manufacturer has yet sought the WHO’s stamp of approval for the new product.
Other manufacturers are also working on nasal vaccines, she added.
– Die every 44 seconds –
WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said it was encouraging to see continued declines in reported coronavirus cases and deaths globally, but said it was “dangerous” to assume those trends would continue.
“Last week, someone died from Covid-19 every 44 seconds. Most of these deaths were avoidable,” he said.
“You’re probably tired of hearing me say the pandemic isn’t over. But I’ll keep saying it until it’s over.”
Van Kerkhove said it was not yet possible to predict that the SARS-CoV-2 virus behind the Covid-19 disease would stabilize into a seasonal pattern.
The BA.5 sub-variant of the Omicron variant has become dominant globally, but dozens of sub-variants are still in circulation.
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