Home > Health > Second generation COVID jabs may have advantage over current crop: WHO
opoyicentral
Opoyi Central

3 years ago .New Delhi, Delhi, India

Second generation COVID jabs may have advantage over current crop: WHO

  • Several second-generation vaccines will be nasal sprays or oral versions
  • These vaccines can be self-administered
  • Nasal vaccines also come with several distinct advantages

Written by:Sammya
Published: November 10, 2021 04:04:39 New Delhi, Delhi, India

Second generation COVID-19
vaccines, in the form of nasal sprays and oral versions, may be the next big
thing in the fight against the coronavirus, according to the World Health
Organization
(WHO). WHO chief scientist Soumya Swaminathan said Tuesday that
she is looking forward to the second generation of COVID-19 vaccines which may
have an advantage over the current crop.

Also Read | India reports 11,466 new COVID cases in last 24 hours

The vaccines that will
come as nasal sprays and oral drops can be self-administered. In course of an
interaction through WHO’s social media channels, Swaminathan said that the
second crop of vaccines covers an entire range of technologies and some of them
may prove to be very safe and efficacious.

Also Read | Worldwide COVID cases surpass 250 million, eastern Europe sees spike: Report

The WHO chief
scientist said that there are 129 different vaccines undergoing clinical trials
at the moment while 194 more vaccine candidates are still in early stages of
development.

Also Read | Foreign citizens seek US-approved shots as travel resumes

Soumya Swaminathan
further said that the second-generation vaccines may have some distinct
advantages. “Clearly, if you have an oral vaccine or an intra-nasal vaccine
this is easier to deliver than an injectable,” she added.

Some of the
vaccine platforms in development may also be of use against other infections in
future, said the WHO chief scientist.

The advantage with
nasal vaccines, according to Swaminathan, is that if there is a local immune
response, “then it will take care of the virus even before it even goes and establishes
itself in the lungs and starts causing a problem.”

The international
health agency has so far granted emergency-use authorisation to seven vaccines for
COVID-19. These vaccines are: Pfizer-BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson
& Johnson, Sinopharm, Sinovac and India’s indigenously developed vaccine
Bharat Biotech.

“None of the
vaccines are 100%. Nobody has ever claimed that the vaccines are going to be
100% protective. But 90% is a wonderful amount of protection to have, compared
to zero,” said Swaminathan.   

Related Articles

ADVERTISEMENT

© Copyright 2023 Opoyi Private Limited. All rights reserved