(AP) BEIJING — In what looks to be a first for the entire world, the Chinese city of Shanghai began dispensing an inhalable COVID-19 vaccination on Wednesday. According to a posting on an official city social media account, the free booster dose of the vaccine, a mist that is breathed in via the lips, is being made available to those who have already had vaccinations.
Because they are simpler to deliver, such “needle-free” vaccines are expected to increase vaccination rates in nations with weak health systems. They might also convince those who dislike getting injected in the arm to have an immunisation.
Before loosening tight pandemic restrictions that are slowing the economy and pulling China further away from the rest of the globe, China wants more individuals to receive booster shots. 90% of Chinese people were fully immunised as of mid-October, and 57% had received a booster dose.
People at a community health centre were seen in a video broadcast online by a Chinese official media agency inserting the short nozzle of a translucent white cup into their lips. According to the text that accompanied the image, people hold their breath for five seconds after slowly breathing, and the total process takes 20 seconds.
“Drinking a cup of milk tea was like it,” “a resident of Shanghai said in the video. “It tasted a little bit sweet when I took a breath of it.
Non-needle vaccines’ efficacy hasn’t been thoroughly studied. The inhalable vaccine was approved by Chinese regulators in September, but only as a booster shot after trials revealed that it stimulated an immunological response in persons who had already received two doses of a different Chinese vaccine.
One specialist claimed that a vaccine administered as a mist could stop the virus before it spreads to the rest of the respiratory system. However, this would partly depend on the size of the droplets.
According to Dr. Vineeta Bal, an immunologist from India, larger droplets would train defences in areas of the mouth and throat while tiny ones would penetrate further into the body.
More than ten markets, including China, Hungary, Pakistan, Malaysia, Argentina, and Mexico, have approved the use of the conventional one-shot vaccine. According to a Malaysian media story from last month, the inhaled version has been given the green light for clinical trials in that country.
A needle-free nasal vaccine has been approved by Indian regulators, but it has not yet been distributed. The American-developed vaccine is administered through nasal spray by Indian vaccine manufacturer Bharat Biotech.
According to the World Health Organization, about a dozen nasal vaccinations are now undergoing testing worldwide.
China has mostly used two inactivated vaccines that were created locally. These vaccines have shown promise in reducing mortality and major illness, but they have lagged behind the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in terms of halting the spread of the disease.