Covid-19 vaccine may work better as nasal spray instead of injection

Researchers believe it may protect people better when inhaled as it directly reaches the lungs.

Scientists have claimed that coronavirus vaccine may be more effective as a nasal spray or inhaler instead of an injection, just like the influenza vaccine given to children, reported Daily Mail.  

Researchers at Oxford University and Imperial College London, who are currently testing the Covid-19 jabs on humans in clinical trials, believe it may protect people better when inhaled as it directly reaches the lungs.

But these scientists are also looking into so-called mucosal immunisation wherein a vaccine is administered at entry points such as the nose and mouth from where pathogens first get into the body. The protective layers of tissue in the nose and the mouth, called mucous membranes, line the surfaces of internal organs, including the lungs and respiratory tract.

Sarah Gilbert, professor of vaccinology at Oxford University, said, "With oral or nasal you would have much stronger mucosal response. That's probably really important in the protection against respiratory pathogens. It's also very difficult to study and we're not yet very good at measuring it."

Scientists also stressed that the mucosal vaccinations may be a more effective way of protecting elderly people because it directly strengthens the lungs. "This takes the vaccine itself right down into the lungs where it can access the same tissue that would be reached by the virus infection," Professor Gilbert added.

But she also said that they need to be sure the Covid-19 nasal spray vaccines are safe. "We have to proceed with caution because the technology is very new and we need to make sure it's safe. Delivering a vaccine through the nose is actually getting very close to the brain so we need to make sure that's gonna be safe," Professor Gilbert added.

Scientists around the world are racing to find a vaccine but Oxford and Imperial's Covid-19 jabs are currently considered as the most promising vaccines.