A new vaccine which offers protection from Covid has been approved in China and it doesn't need an injection. China is the first country to approve the use of the new vaccine you inhale - Convidecia Air.
Rich Quelch at global pharmaceutical experts Origin explains everything you need to know about the new needle-free vaccine, how it works, and whether we could see this being used in the UK soon.
Convidecia Air, manufactured by Chinese company CanSino Biologics, is the world’s first inhaled vaccination for COVID-19 and is now being offered as a booster. The needle-free vaccine “can effectively induce comprehensive immune protection in response to SARS-CoV-2 after just one breath,” according to CanSino.
It works by changing the liquid form of the vaccine into an aerosol using a nebuliser which is breathed in via the mouth. Evidence suggests inhaled vaccines work by priming immune cells in the thin mucous membranes that line cavities in the nose and mouth where COVID-19 enters the body, and quickly stops the virus in its tracks before it’s able to spread.
A few mucosal vaccines are already approved for other diseases, including a sprayable vaccine against flu.
Convidecia Air has proved to be 57.5 per cent effective against symptomatic COVID-19 overall and 91.7 per cent effective against severe disease four weeks or longer after a single dose, according to Phase III clinical trial results published in The Lancet.
As a booster, the inhaled vaccine offers stronger protection against Omicron BA.1 subvariant than a single intramuscular dose, according to the manufacturer.
The injected vaccines most of us have had over the past few years do a good job of reducing our risk of serious illness or death from COVID-19. But they aren’t as effective at stopping mild illness or transmission between people.
That’s because they are injected into muscles, prompting an immune response that works by identifying and fighting the virus in the bloodstream. But this allows the virus to spread within our bodies before it is found and fought against.
By comparison, inhaled vaccines give our immune response a head start, by providing rapid detection in the nose and lungs at the site of the infection before you become ill.
Around 100 mucosal COVID-19 vaccines are in development around the world. AstraZeneca, together with the University of Oxford, is among the pharmaceutical companies exploring this avenue. Their injectable COVID-19 vaccine was the first to be approved in the UK and played a major role in the early stages of the vaccination roll out.
It’s likely we will see an inhaled or nasal COVID-19 vaccine offered in the UK at some point in the future as part of the ongoing booster effort to protect us against new variants, but it’s hard to say how long we’ll be waiting.
Needle-free COVID-19 vaccines are a great alternative for those with a phobia of injections and could help to encourage more people to get vaccinated and boosted moving forwards.
However, with no needle-free options approved for use in the UK currently, these cannot be requested based on personal preference.
