China gives approval to trials for first nasal spray vaccine against Covid-19

China has given the approval to clinical trials for its first nasal spray vaccine to fight against the novel Coronavirus as reported on Thursday.

The nasal spray vaccine that may potentially combat Coronavirus will be entering the phase 1 clinical trials in the month of November. They are selecting a total of 100 volunteers for the assessment.

The nasal spray vaccine is the first of its kind receiving green signal by China’s National Medical Products administration, as reported by Global Times. It is a collaboration between Chinese and Hong Kong researchers representing University of Hong Kong, Xiamen University and Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy.

Yuen Kwok-yung, a microbiologist from University of Hong Kong, mentioned that the vaccine will be stimulating the natural infection pathway of respiratory viruses for activating the immune response.

According to the Yuen, it would take at least another year to complete all the three clinical trials for the vaccine.

An immunologist from Beijing stated in the daily newspaper about the benefits of a nasal spray over injections in terms of administering easily and and would be convenient to mass produce and distribute as it adopts the mature influenza vaccine production technology.