The University of Oxford has initiated Phase I clinical trials for its intranasal vaccine developed in association with AstraZeneca (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19/AZD1222) on 54 healthy adults. Previous studies done on hamsters and rhesus macaques have shown positive findings.

In the two animal studies, the intranasal inoculation was found to decrease the viral load and also reduced the impact on the lungs. This vaccine was tested on hamsters on the early D614G mutation of the spike protein and was shown to decrease the viral load in nasal swabs. Intranasal vaccination of rhesus macaques also showed decreased virus concentrations in nasal swabs as well as a decrease in viral loads in bronchoalveolar lavage and lower respiratory tract tissue.

Dr Nanasaheb Thorat, a Marie-Curie fellow at Oxford, said that intranasal vaccines are easier to administer and can easily be given to children as well. Thorat added that the vaccine has not been changed and therefore, should not face regulatory checks again… (ET Healthworld – TNN, August 21, 2021)