India’s first nasal vaccine approved by DCGI | Fusion - WeRIndia

Good news for citizens. An intranasal vaccine against COVID-19 will be coming into the market. Bharat Biotech developed the needle-free intranasal vaccine, BBV154, and received emergency use authorization to be used for the immunization program.

The Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) approved the vaccine for the immunization of people above 18 years in the country.

Union Health Minister Dr Mansukh Mandaviya informed this matter on Twitter. He said that the intranasal vaccine developed by Bharat Biotech would be a big boost to the country in fighting against COVID-19. The vaccine has been approved for restricted use in emergency situations.

Before that, Bharat Biotech conducted clinical trials to check the efficacy and safety of the vaccine. It conducted two separate trials for the intranasal vaccine: One as a primary dose and another as a booster dose. The company finished the Phase-III and booster dose trials last month.

The company said that the intranasal vaccine had been proven safe and immunogenic in clinical trials. It also said that the clinical trials had been conducted on 4,000 volunteers. None of them reported any adverse reaction to the vaccine. The company submitted the data to regulatory authorities for their approval.

Here are some important things to know about Bharat Biotech’s intranasal vaccine:

• Bharat Biotech uses a chimpanzee cold virus for its intranasal vaccine.
• This needle-free vaccine is easy to administer.
• The company received partial funding for product development and clinical trials from the Centre.
• The DCGI approved the clinical trials for the intranasal vaccine as a booster dose. It also approved the company to conduct Phase-III clinical trials to compare its safety and immunogenicity with Covaxin.

The nasal vaccines have many advantages. Some of them are:

• They are hassle-free and non-invasive.
• They eliminate risks associated with needles, like infections and injuries.
• The vaccine can stimulate immunity directly in the nose and thus lowers the risk of further infection and transmission.
• Due to their ease of administration, they are suitable for children and adults. Besides, they do not require trained healthcare workers to administer the vaccine.

Photo by James Gathany, Dr. Bill Atkinson, USCDCP on Pixnio (Free for commercial use / CC0 Public Domain)

Image Reference: https://pixnio.com/people/doctor-with-the-nasal-spray-vaccine