The World Health Organization (WHO) said on Wednesday that nasal COVID-19 vaccines could help control the pandemic. This announcement by WHO comes after indigenous nasal vaccines from India and China have been approved against Kovid-19.
The WHO welcomed the new developments, saying it wanted to look at the data behind the vaccines and assess whether they should be approved.
WHO emergencies director Mike Ryan was quoted by AFP news agency as saying that nasal vaccines induce an immune response in the respiratory mucosa in the lungs. “You are creating the first line of defense where the virus enters and does a lot of damage,” he added.
Ryan says that nasal vaccines can potentially prevent a person from becoming infected and passing on the virus. He also cited the example of diseases like polio where nasal and injectable vaccines are used in combination to combat the disease.
Ryan adds an opportunity to reduce the severity of infection and onward transmission may offer a stronger chance of control of COVID in the long run. He also encouraged the development of second and third generation vaccines “that we may eventually need to tackle the end of COVID and the dangers of future respiratory viruses”.
China has approved the world’s first inhalable COVID vaccine, Convidacia Air, manufactured by CanSino Biologics and administered through a nebulizer. India has approved INCOVACC Vaccine For emergency use on Tuesdays.
Welcoming the news, Maria Van Kerkhove, WHO’s technical chief on COVID-19, said: “We look forward to seeing the data on how it can be incorporated into the response to COVID-19.”
Van Kerkhove says that it is not yet predicted whether the SARS-CoV-2 virus behind the Kovid-19 disease will settle in a seasonal pattern.
However, WHO’s access to vaccines chief Mariangela Simao says that both manufacturers have not yet sought WHO’s seal of approval for the new product, while other manufacturers are also working on the product.
The global decline in reported Covid cases and deaths was encouraging, says WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, and it was “alarming” to assume these trends would persist
“Last week, one person died with COVID-19 every 44 seconds. Most of those deaths are avoidable, … You must be tired of hearing me say that the pandemic is not over. I’ll keep saying that until it’s over.” He added.
With inputs from AFP
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