China has just become the first country to endorse a Covid-19 vaccine that is not administered intravenously. The needle-free, inhalable version of the Covid-19 vaccine was made by Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics Inc. After the approval of this vaccine, the company’s shares shot up by 14.5% at the start of this week in Hong Kong.
CanSino announced in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday that China’s National Medical Products Administration has licenced its Ad5-nCoV vaccine for use as a booster vaccine in an emergency situation.
The vaccine is a new version of CanSino’s one-shot Covid drug, which was the first in the world to undergo human testing in March 2020 at the start of the global pandemic. It has been used in China, Mexico, Pakistan, Malaysia and Hungary after being rolled out in February 2021.
According to CanSino. the inhaled version can stimulate cellular immunity and induce mucosal immunity to boost protection without intramuscular injection.
What they are saying
- The vaccine being needle-free and self-administered would be more appealing to people hesitant or sceptical about previous Covid-19 vaccines.
- It will be administered in a single dose much like the Johnson & Johnson, rather than multiple doses over a period of time.
- CanSino’s initial one-shot intravenous vaccine was found to be 66% effective in preventing Covid-19 symptoms and 91% effective against severe disease. This will be an improvement on that.
- The National Medical Products Administration of China granted CanSino approval for its inhaled vaccine to be used as a booster dose, rather than an original vaccine.
- The vaccine is similar to those developed by AstraZeneca Plc and Johnson & Johnson.
The nation’s drug regulator has not yet approved any imported vaccinations, including the mRNA shots made by Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna, which have higher efficacy rates than other vaccine varieties. China is the only major economy that still adheres to a zero-Covid policy, which has been disrupting travel and businesses.
China has administered over 3.4 billion Covid shots, the National Health Commission said Monday without offering details on the percentage of the population vaccinated.
