Many experts believe that needle-free vaccines are the future of Covid inoculation. It’s now well-established that the first-generation vaccines protect against severe disease but they do not prevent breakthrough infections.
Vaccines such as iNCOVACC can prevent mild cases of Covid and break the line of transmission of the disease
By: Editorial
September 8, 2022 4:11:04 am
A shot in the arm muscle is no longer the only way of administering a Covid vaccine. In April, Russian drug regulators approved the use of vaccines that can be sprayed into the nose, but very little was known of their efficacy. Earlier this week, China became the first country to authorise the use of an inhaled vaccine for booster doses. On Tuesday, India’s Central Drugs Standard Control Organisation (CDSCO) approved iNCOVACC, the country’s first intra-nasal vaccine for primary inoculation. Developed by scientists at the Washington University and manufactured by the Hyderabad-based company, Bharat Biotech, the vaccine uses a harmless version of chimpanzee adenovirus to deliver the spike protein to the lining of the nose.
Many experts believe that needle-free vaccines are the future of Covid inoculation. It’s now well-established that the first-generation vaccines protect against severe disease but they do not prevent breakthrough infections. A possible reason for this failure is the inability of the injectables to induce an immune response in the body’s first line of defence against the coronavirus — the respiratory tract. Nasal vaccines like the Bharat Biotech-manufactured drops behave differently. They target the immune cells in the thin mucous membranes that line cavities in the nose. The body’s defence mechanism, therefore, gets to work immediately after the coronavirus enters the body and stops the pathogen from using the respiratory tract to cause infection. That is why vaccines such as iNCOVACC can prevent mild cases of Covid and break the line of transmission of the disease. The vaccine has other advantages. A squirt in the nose is much easier to administer than conventional shots — in fact, trained healthcare workers are not required to deliver this needle-free vaccine. The vials can be stored easily at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius and Bharat Biotech claims that it can scale up production at short notice. All this means that though the drug regulator has approved iNCOVACC for the small section of the country’s adult population that has not received primary inoculation, the vaccine could be a potential shield in case the unpredictable virus throws up another variant of concern — healthcare authorities can turn to it in case of an emergency requirement for inoculation.
Non-injectable vaccines have proved to be a game changer in the battle against polio. But their record against influenza has, at best, been mixed. Researchers working on the Covid vaccine claim they have learnt lessons from the experiences of their counterparts who developed the influenza shots. The performance of Innovaccer will be keenly watched.
Source: Indian Express-Editorial