iNCOVACC - A Global Gamechanger
World’s first intra-nasal vaccine for COVID developed by India (Bharat Biotech) has got approval from the Central Drug Standard Control Organization (CDSCO) for restricted use in emergency situations in the age group of 18 and above.
iNCOVACC, the first intranasal vaccine by Bharat Biotech has received both primary series and heterologous booster approval.
This is a great achievement for India and for the global scientific community to enable nasal administration of COVID vaccine.
Despite the lack of demand of COVID vaccines, product development has been continued in intranasal vaccines to ensure that we are well prepared with platform technologies for future infectious diseases.
All you need to know about iNCOVACC?
The vaccine called as iNCOVACC, is based on technology licensed from Washington University in St. Louis and developed in association with Bharat Biotech International Limited in India.
The vaccine is a recombinant replication deficient adenovirus vectored vaccine with a pre-fusion stabilized SARS-CoV-2 spike protein derived from Wuhan strain.
The vaccine candidate was evaluated in Phases-I, II and III clinical trials with successful results and has been developed specifically for intranasal delivery through nasal drops.
The nasal delivery system that has been designed is cost-effective in low and medium-income countries.
This vaccine is stable at 2-8℃ for easy storage and distribution.
This vaccine has double benefit of enabling faster development of variant specific vaccines and easy nasal delivery that enables mass immunization to protect from emerging variants of concern.
It promises to be a most important tool in mass vaccinations during endemics and pandemics.
Route of administration:
The vaccine is delivered via nose, right from where the virus enters the body, so it has the potential to block the infection and break the cycle of transmission, as well as lung damage.
The studies has revealed that the nasal delivery of the vaccine creates strong immune response throughout the body , especially in the nose and respiratory tract.
In the animal studies, the vaccine prevented the infection from taking hold in the body.
The nasal vaccine include the type of protective immunity that prevents or limit infection and also curb the pandemic transmission of this virus.
Goal of the Vaccination:
The primary goal of this intra-nasal vaccination is to prevent hospitalization and death.
The more people the virus infects, more chances it has to spin off new variants, which sustains the pandemic.
There are always people who cant get vaccinated or people who are still at risk of severe disease despite vaccination and best way to protect them is to stop the virus from circulationg.
When to take the Nasal vaccine?
The nasal vaccine can be taken by those who have taken two doses of vaccine already.
If someone has already taken the precautionary dose, then they cant avail this.
Only about 30 % of the people who have taken two doses of Covishield or Covaxin have taken precautionary dose, so these are the people who are eligible to take nasal vaccine.
Storage of intra-nasal vaccine:
The vaccine is stable at 2-8℃ for easy storage and distribution which is the normal refrigerator temperature and must be used once opened and out of the refrigerator within six hours. During that time, it must be stored at the same temperature.
Can it be self administered?
Even though it is easy to administer, this vaccine is available only through CoWin platform and in designated private and government hospitals and institutions which are on the CoWin platform.
How the intra-nasal vaccine is adminstered?
It is to be delivered through the nose as a two dose series, weeks apart.
A total of 8 drops (0-5ml) per dose, 4 drops are administered into each nostril.
Side Effects:
The trials have been conducted and the nasal vaccines are known to be safe and efficacious.
It is known to show very very rare serious side effects.
The minor side effects that are observed are as same as observed in any other vaccine that is:
- fever
- headache
- runny nose
These side effects are short term and they go away within few days.
Benefits of nasal vaccine:
“It needs no needles”
The advantage of this nasal vaccine is as that it provides broad spectrum of immunity and also local immunity in the nasal passage itself, lowering the rate of infection in the people who get vaccinated by this.
The rate of transmission will also decrease.
The vaccine only requires a brief inhalation, a major plus to many people who wants to avoid needles.
The design of vaccine makes it relatively quick and easy to update when new variants emerge, simply by switching out the current spike protein with one from a new variant.
Scalable manufacturing of this intra-nasal vaccine can also be done to be able to meet the global demand.
The pandemic has been dragging on because new variants continue to emerge and these variants cause a lot of infections and transmission among the people who are already vaccinated
A nasal vaccine may be the weapon to break this cycle of transmission.
To know more about nasal vaccine for Covid, consult your doctor or book a free consultation at INVC.
Reference:
www.bharatbiotech.com
