Texas researchers develop COVID nasal vaccine
No injections are needed, and the vaccine can be delivered in a nasal spray.
GALVESTON, Texas (KXAN) -- The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston and the Catholic University of America (CUA) in Washington, D.C. said researchers have developed a COVID-19 vaccine delivered through the nose.
A release from UTMB on Thursday said the vaccine, so far only tested in mice, can be delivered using a nasal spray.
The results of their research were published Thursday in mBio, an American Society for Microbiology journal.
The study said vaccinating through the nose can add extra protection against COVID-19 since it can "effectively" kill the virus where it enters the body, which is the respiratory tract.
No injections are needed, and the vaccine can be delivered in a nasal spray.
The current vaccines are injected into muscle tissue, and UTMB said while they are effective at preventing COVID-19, they do not make your nasal mucus immune to the disease.
The vaccine developed by UTMB and CUA is part of the second generation of vaccines to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.
“These efforts are underway and crucial since more than 10 billion doses of vaccines are needed across the globe, particularly in middle- to low-income countries, where the affordability of the current vaccines is a big concern," said Dr. Ashok Chopra, UTMB microbiologist and co-author of the study.
According to UTMB, researchers found the new vaccine is stable, but they need to do further animal and human trials.