Researchers working on Covid vaccine that people can drink
Darpan News Desk IANS, 23 Jan, 2023 01:58 PM
San Francisco, Jan 23 (IANS) Researchers are working on a Covid-19 vaccine that people may drink instead of receiving with a needle, expanding their focus onto mucosal vaccines, which include nasal vaccines as well as "swish and swallow" oral vaccines.
The vaccine, called QYNDR, completed its phase 1 clinical trial and is currently waiting on more funding to conduct the more detailed, advanced trials that could actually bring the vaccine to market, reports CNET.
"The QYNDR vaccine is pronounced 'kinder', because it's a softer way to deliver a vaccine," Kyle Flanigan, founder of QYNDR's maker, US Specialty Formulations, was quoted as saying.
Moreover, the report said that promising clinical trial results from New Zealand offer hope that QYNDR will be a viable option for protection against the string of Covid-19 variants circulating now.
"It's really challenging to have a vaccine survive making it through your digestive system," Flanigan said.
"We were able to figure out how to get a vaccine past the stomach and into the gut and have it be effective and induce the appropriate response," she added.
Scientists are hopeful that mucosal vaccines will not only protect against severe diseases and death, as revolutionary mRNA vaccines and boosters have but also ward off infections, the report said.
Different from traditional vaccines, mucosal vaccines enter through our mucous membranes, either through our nose (as in the much-discussed nasal Covid-19 vaccine) or through our gut (as in the orally suspended QYNDRs).
Mucosal vaccines have been supported as viable, or even preferable, options for combating Covid-19 infections due to the different types of immunity they produce and the fact that it begins right where the virus enters our bodies, the report mentioned.
The numbers are included in a joint study still underway by the Canadian Paediatric Surveillance Program that may ease parent fears about the risks of sending kids back to school, says principal investigator Dr. Fatima Kakkar.
Dr. Anthony Gordon of Imperial College London called the result “a huge step forward,” but added, “as impressive as these results are, it’s not a cure.”
Two other vaccine candidates began final testing this summer in tens of thousands of people in the U.S. One was created by the National Institutes of Health and manufactured by Moderna Inc., and the other developed by Pfizer Inc. and Germany’s BioNTech.
Dix and Henry once again encouraged people to keep contact with other people low, particularly at indoor parties and events. "This weekend, let's remember to use the layers of protection that keep ourselves and those around us safe. This is also a good time to think about the new routines that will be part of our activities into the fall," their statement read.
"Someone's going to get a cold or a cough — probably not COVID, but you're going to be keeping someone home, like, all the time," says Trousdale, whose kids are set to enter grades 1 and 4.
