Shanghai in China has introduced a new type of Covid-19 vaccine that is inhaled rather than administered via injection in what is a world first.
The first people are starting to receive the vaccine, which is inhaled via the mouth from a vessel that looks like a takeaway coffee cup with a short mouthpiece.
The vaccine was approved by Chinese regulators and produced by Chinese pharmaceutical firm CanSino Biologics, for use as a booster in September.
"Our body's first line of defence is the mucus membrane of our respiratory system, we want that to be directly stimulated to improve immunity and using the inhaled vaccine does that," Dr Zhao Hui, chief medical officer at Shanghai United Family Hospital Pudong, said.
Erwin Loh, chief medical officer at St Vincents Health Australia, said inhaling vaccines could lessen vaccine hesitancy because many people are scared of injections.
"There is a large proportion of people who are resistant to taking the vaccine because they have a needle phobia," he said.
The news comes as China's leader Xi Jinping continues to pursue his zero-Covid policy.
Dozens of cities across China, including Wuhan where the coronavirus was first recorded, have gone back into lockdown, as Mr Xi called the policy a "people's war to stop the spread of the virus".
More than 800,000 people in one district in Wuhan were told to stay at home until 30 October, as China reported a third straight day of more than 1,000 cases.
Wuhan reported up to 25 new infections a day this week, with more than 200 cases over the past two weeks.
Guangzhou, China’s fourth-biggest city by economic output, closed more streets and neighbourhoods and kept people in their homes on Thursday. This was in reaction to more areas being deemed high-risk in a Covid resurgence.
The country's economy has also taken a hit as a result and GDP has fallen by 2.6 per cent in the three months to the end of June from the previous quarter.
The Shanghai government's WeChat account, in announcing the inhalable vaccine rollout this week, said that 23 million of the city's 26 million residents had been fully vaccinated against Coronavirus, and more than 12 million had received booster shots.
According to official Chinese government data, more than 90 percent of its population has been vaccinated.
In Beijing, the Universal Resort theme park was shut on Wednesday after at least one visitor tested positive for coronavirus.
