Africa-Press – Botswana. A preliminary clinical trial of a nasal formula of the anti-Covid vaccine developed by the University of Oxford, in collaboration with the British laboratory AstraZeneca, has failed, according to a statement released Tuesday.
Oxford estimates that this study is the first to be published on a nasal spray adenovirus vector vaccine. The researchers observed an antibody response in the nasal mucosa “in a minority of participants”, the university explained.
The “systemic immune response to intranasal vaccination was also weaker than an intramuscular vaccination,” the statement added.
“This nasal spray didn’t work as well as we had hoped,” commented Sandy Douglas, an associate professor at the university who participated in the study.
The professor pointed out that a study in China had good results with a more complex vaporizer, which launches the vaccine deeper into the lungs, and therefore estimated that it is possible that a large part of the tested vaccine fell into the digestive tracts with the nasal spray used.
The study used the same adenovirus vector that is used for the vaccine developed by Oxford with AstraZeneca, one of the first sera against Covid-19 introduced to the market at the height of the pandemic.
“Giving vaccines through the nose and airways is one of the most promising ways to gain immunity” and “could end mild Covid-19 infections and virus transmission more effectively than injected vaccines,” noted Adam Ritchie, one of the leaders. Oxford’s vaccine program.
It also has the benefit of “avoiding the use of a needle. Many parents know that nasal sprays are already used for flu shots given to school children in some countries, including the UK,” he added.
The trial involved thirty people who had not been previously vaccinated.
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