World’s first Nasal Vaccine for COVID-19; IMA doctors talk about Efficacy & Use
World’s first Nasal Vaccine for COVID-19, iNCOVACC (BBV154), is set to be rolled out in the fourth week of January 2023 across India. The needle-free vaccine will be administered as a booster dose for those above 18 years of age and will also be included in the CoWin app under India’s vaccination programme.
As per the information released by Bharat Biotech, the vaccine will be capped at Rs. 800 for Private Markets and Rs. 325 for supplies to Government of India and State Governments, excluding GST on both.
As the public sets its eye on the upcoming needle-less vaccine, PBNS spoke to distinguished doctors of the Indian Medical Association to understand the efficacy as well as benefits of the Nasal Vaccine.
“The Nasal vaccine is extremely useful because of its 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,” Dr Munish Prabhakar, IMA informed.
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“The vaccine is recommended for people who have poor immunity, only if they have not taken a precautionary dose. Those who have already taken their booster dose must not take the Nasal Vaccine,” Dr Munish stated. He further remarked, “Needle Vaccine needs intervention and the availability of nurses for administration, but the Needle-less vaccine can be administered by Anganwadi workers in the presence of specialised nurses/doctors.”
Clearing any public apprehension regarding Nasal Vaccine, IMA National President Dr Sharad Kumar Agarwal said that the government has approved the Nasal vaccine after thorough research and trials. But we should also note that all the 7% who have not their 3rd dose yet should go and get the precautionary dosage first.
iNCOVACC was developed in partnership with Washington University, St. Louis, which had designed and developed the recombinant adenoviral vectored construct and evaluated it in preclinical studies for efficacy. The nasal delivery system has been designed and developed for its efficiency and cost-effectiveness in low and middle-income countries.
“The newly approved Nasal Vaccine is a step in the right direction and we assure the Govt. that our members, in each nook and corner of the country, will support this vaccination programme,” the IMA stated in an official release.
