WHO suggests nasal vaccinations for Covid: The World Health Organization said on Wednesday that nasal COVID-19 vaccinations might contribute to bringing the COVID-19 pandemic under control after domestically produced vaccines received approval in China and India.
The WHO acknowledged opening a new front in the battle against the virus. But said it also needed to review the evidence supporting the vaccinations before deciding whether to endorse them.
Convidecia Air was introduced in China on Sunday, a nebulizer-administered inhalable version of the Covid vaccination developed by CanSino Biologics.
Additionally, on Tuesday, India authorized the use of the COVID-19 vaccine, delivered nasally, for emergency purposes.
Mike Ryan, head of WHO emergencies, said that nasal vaccinations caused an immunological reaction in the lungs’ respiratory mucosa.
He said that the first line of defense created at the point where the virus enters and does the most harm.
Thus, nasal vaccinations may be able to stop someone from contracting the disease and spreading it to others.
To fully protect the internal systems, Ryan mentioned how nasal and injectable vaccinations are used in tandem to treat illnesses like polio.
He said at a news conference that the chance to lessen both the severity of the infection and subsequent transmission “may provide us a lot greater possibility of control of Covid in the long term.”
He supported research to create the second and third vaccine generations, which “we may need” to deal with the end of Covid and future respiratory virus risks.
The technical lead for Covid-19 for the WHO, Maria Van Kerkhove, welcomed the information.
She added that we anticipate reviewing the statistics to see how this may include in the COVID-19 response.
Both CanSino and Bharat Biotech have injectable Covid-19 vaccinations that have received WHO approval.
The head of the WHO’s access to vaccinations, Mariangela Simao, acknowledged that neither producer had yet requested WHO authorization for the new drugs.
She stated that other producers are also developing nasal vaccinations.
Although the worldwide drop in reported Covid cases and fatalities is good. WHO director Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus warned that it is “dangerous” to presume that these trends will continue.
“Every 44 seconds, a person with Covid-19 died last week. Most of those deaths could have prevented, “said he.
“Perhaps you’re sick of hearing me reiterate that the epidemic is still ongoing. But until it is, I will continue to say it.”
The SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 illness, according to Van Kerkhove, cannot currently project to develop a seasonal pattern.
Although hundreds of subvariants of the Omicron variant are present, the BA.5 subvariant has gained worldwide dominance.
