Astra Zeneca’s Nasal Spray Fails To Perform Well In First Trial: Raises Concern For Efficacy Of Nose Vaccines

As per reports, a possible reason for the failure of the vaccine to perform well could be it getting swallowed or destroyed in the stomach and not sticking to the respiratory tract for long

The hope of having a nasal spray against COVID-19 has met a blow after the Astra Zeneca-funded Oxford nasal vaccine failed to yield desired results in the initial testing. This move might lead scientists to not go forward with the development of the spray in its current form.

As per an official statement from the University of Oxford, the antibody response was seen only in a minority of participants. The trial was reportedly the first in order. As per reports, the immune response recorded in blood was weaker than in an injected form of the vaccine.

As per some researchers, the administration of vaccines through the nose remains a promising approach but there might be challenges in making nasal vaccines reliable.

Little evidence of the mucosal antibodies after the first trial

The Astra Zeneca-funded trial involved 30 people who had not been vaccinated against COVID-19 and 12 those who received spray as a booster. The vaccine was administered to the nose of the subjects through a simple device. Both mucosal and systematic antibodies ( in nasal tissues and blood) were tested against COVID. Reportedly, there was little evidence of mucosal antibodies after the first dose, only a handful of subjects showed some mucosal antibodies but the levels were "rarely" above those seen after recovering from COVID. Only a fraction of volunteers showed detectable systematic antibodies after a month of receiving the nasal spray. The levels of antibodies were still lower than those achieved with two jabs of the vaccine.

Why nasal vaccines over jabs?

The world is looking hopefully at nasal vaccines as they are easy to administer. Also, as per reports, nasal sprays have the potential of killing the infection causing virus at a point where it just enters the body through the airways. As per reports, a possible reason for the failure of the vaccine to perform well could be it getting swallowed or destroyed in the stomach and not sticking to the respiratory tract for long.

Bharat Biotech's nasal vaccine approved last month

While the Indian Health Ministry approved Bharat Biotech's nasal vaccine last month, some scientists around the globe are saying that the world needs to understand the process of delivering vaccines through the nasal passage in a better way.