Scientists in Germany say they've developed a nasal vaccine that can prevent Covid-19 from taking hold in the nose and throat, two potential entry points for the virus into the body.
In experiments on hamsters, the vaccine showed "sterilizing immunity", blocking the virus's ability to replicate and causing illness. The vaccine uses a weakened but live form of the coronavirus, which closely mimics natural infection.
Researchers think this approach could be key to preventing future Covid-19 variants from emerging by boosting immune defenses in the mucous membranes that line the upper airways.
This method has been tried before, dating back to the 1870s when vaccines were developed against anthrax and rabies using live but weakened viruses. The German team's codon pair deoptimization technique further hobbles the virus, making it harder for cells to replicate.
However, experts caution that more testing is needed before this vaccine can be widely used. "We should be developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine that does induce mucosal immunity and that is long-lived," says Dr. Greg Poland of the Mayo Clinic.
While other nasal vaccines are already in use or nearing completion in clinical trials, their effectiveness data has not been published yet. At least four more nasal vaccines are currently being tested on humans, according to the World Health Organization's vaccine tracker.
The German team will be watching closely for results from another company's study using a similar approach. However, there is a concern that respiratory infections can prove difficult to target with inhaled vaccines.
This latest development comes as the US continues to grapple with Covid-19 cases, with hundreds of Americans still dying daily from the virus.
In experiments on hamsters, the vaccine showed "sterilizing immunity", blocking the virus's ability to replicate and causing illness. The vaccine uses a weakened but live form of the coronavirus, which closely mimics natural infection.
Researchers think this approach could be key to preventing future Covid-19 variants from emerging by boosting immune defenses in the mucous membranes that line the upper airways.
This method has been tried before, dating back to the 1870s when vaccines were developed against anthrax and rabies using live but weakened viruses. The German team's codon pair deoptimization technique further hobbles the virus, making it harder for cells to replicate.
However, experts caution that more testing is needed before this vaccine can be widely used. "We should be developing a pan-coronavirus vaccine that does induce mucosal immunity and that is long-lived," says Dr. Greg Poland of the Mayo Clinic.
While other nasal vaccines are already in use or nearing completion in clinical trials, their effectiveness data has not been published yet. At least four more nasal vaccines are currently being tested on humans, according to the World Health Organization's vaccine tracker.
The German team will be watching closely for results from another company's study using a similar approach. However, there is a concern that respiratory infections can prove difficult to target with inhaled vaccines.
This latest development comes as the US continues to grapple with Covid-19 cases, with hundreds of Americans still dying daily from the virus.
. I mean, we’ve been hearing about how Covid-19 is all about getting into your nose and throat for ages now, so it’s genius that scientists have finally found a way to tackle that. The fact that they’re using a weakened live virus to train our immune system to fight off the real deal sounds like a solid plan to me 
. Of course, we need more testing before we can fully trust it, but I think this could be a game-changer if it works out 
. We should definitely be keeping an eye on how it all goes down!
I'm all for anything that can prevent Covid from spreading through our noses and throats! It's crazy how much we've learned about this virus since it started, and I think this new nasal vaccine is a step in the right direction 
. But I do worry about those who are already dealing with respiratory issues - will they be able to get vaccinated without making their conditions worse? 
I'm glad there's more research being done on this, and I hope we'll see some promising results soon! Fingers crossed for our health and wellbeing 
... seems like it could be a game changer for Covid-19 prevention... the idea that it's using live but weakened viruses to boost immune defenses in mucous membranes is wild 
... but, like, experts are still saying more testing needs to happen before it can be widely used, you feel? 
! The idea of preventing Covid-19 from taking hold in our nose and throat is game changing. I mean, think about it - if we can boost our immune defenses up there, we might be able to avoid some of the worst symptoms of the virus. Plus, it's a pretty cool approach using live but weakened viruses. The fact that they're trying to target respiratory infections with inhaled vaccines is a great move. It's just too bad that more testing needs to be done before this vaccine can hit the market. We all know how quickly Covid-19 variants can emerge... let's hope we get there soon! 
think this could be a game changer for prevention, especially since our noses & throats are like, total entry points for viruses 
. already we've got all these other vaccines out there but the thing is, they're not always long lasting... so if this one works out, that's huge! 
also how reliable are these nasal vaccines gonna be? is it just another quick fix or are they really gonna work in the long run?
. But I do agree with Dr. Poland that more testing is needed ASAP... I'd love to see some real-world data on these nasal vaccines ASAP 
and I gotta say, it's a game-changer! Preventing COVID from getting into our noses and throats would be such a huge relief 
. I mean, we all know how hard it is to get vaccinated with the standard shots, so if this one works... that'd be amazing 
. And it's crazy how similar it is to other vaccines from like 1873 
.