Updated: September 24, 2020 8:37:06 am
Covid testing will take place in Mumbai on September 17, 2020 (Photo Express: Amit Chakravarty)
Bharat Biotech announced Wednesday that it would manufacture up to 1 billion doses of a single dose intranasal vaccine. It is a key step for the country to receive its first vaccine administered this way.
What is an intranasal vaccine?
Vaccines are administered by different routes, the most common being injectable injections into the muscles (intramuscular) or into the tissue between the skin and the muscles (subcutaneous). Other routes of administration, especially in some vaccines for babies, include giving the liquid solution by mouth instead of by injection. In the intranasal route, the vaccine is sprayed into the nasal passages and inhaled.
What is the importance of a vaccine of this type for Covid-19?
The single-shot intranasal Covid-19 vaccine developed by Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis and licensed by Bharat Biotech aims to overcome potential difficulties with mass vaccination and reduce cost by eliminating the need for needles. and syringes.
Intranasal vaccines are also expected to reduce reliance on trained personnel to administer the vaccine, experts say.
“Let’s not forget that with the scale of the pandemic, the logistics of actually shipping a vaccine, having it available, and then having people trained to give an injection in the arm is not that easy. So one draw of the intranasal vaccine is that it is very simple to use, you just spray it into your nose, and it is something that you can self-administer in pandemics and outbreaks, ”said Dr. Davinder Gill, former CEO of Hilleman Laboratories.
“It’s an easy vaccine to administer,” said Vaccine Scientist Dr. Gagandeep Kang. “It is entering a mucosal surface, probably restricted (and there is a) probability of less safe events. It can be given in combination with flu vaccines, ”she said.
Wellcome Trust DBT India Alliance virologist and CEO Dr. Shahid Jameel said that an intranasal vaccine could also help develop a different type of immune response.
“Both intranasal and intramuscular vaccines produce a response in the blood… But, vaccines administered through the nose or mouth would also take advantage of another set of immune cells found in mucosal tissues. The B cells that reside here can produce another type of antibody, called IgA, which is very effective in destroying intestinal and airway pathogens. The T cells in this tissue can create a memory and patrol the places where they first encountered pathogens, ”he added.
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Are there potential problems with a vaccine like this?
Not many are considering the intranasal route to administer their Covid-19 vaccine. Of the 187 Covid-19 vaccine candidates listed by the World Health Organization (WHO) as in development, only five are specifically listed as intranasal route of administration explorers.
This is because so far there is very little evidence to support the effectiveness of this route of administration and, except for some flu vaccines, attempts to administer the vaccines have been unsuccessful, according to experts.
Despite the theoretical advantages, the intranasal approach to vaccination is largely unproven. While this concept has been extensively tested in animals, it has yet to be largely proven whether this is true in humans, so the clinical trials here will definitely have to be watched closely, ”Dr. Gill said. “Except for the flu vaccine, there really isn’t much precedent for the use of such a vaccine.”
“There was a trial of a measles flu vaccine that did not meet the non-inferiority criteria,” said Dr. Kang. “Nasal flu vaccines, which are live attenuated vaccines, have not worked very well. We don’t know if it is a problem because they are flu shots, or if it is a problem because it is a nasal vaccine. ”He said there is also uncertainty regarding the dose that is given with a spray versus an injection.
Only very small volumes, usually around 0.1 ml, can be administered into each nostril via the intranasal route, Dr. Jameel said. “The antigens in the vaccine must be produced in high concentration. Suitable single or multi-use delivery vehicles must be developed, and these present the most significant challenge, ”he said.
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