WHO expects second generation of COVID-19 vaccines that would be easier to administer

The World Health Organization’s chief scientist said Tuesday that she was eagerly awaiting the “second generation” of covid vaccines, which could include nasal or oral versions.

Soumya Swaminathan indicated that these vaccines would have advantages over current ones, since they would be easier to administer than injections and even the same patient could do it.

Swaminathan explained that there were 129 coronavirus vaccine candidates that were being tested in humans in clinical trials, and another 194 that were still being developed in laboratories.

“This covers the entire spectrum of technologies,” he said in a live interaction on WHO’s social media. “They are still in development, some will prove very safe and effective, and others may not,” he added.

The scientist pointed out that “there may be advantages in some of the second generation vaccines.” “Clearly, if you have an oral or intranasal vaccine, it is much easier to administer than an injectable,” he explained.

In addition, nasal spray vaccines, used in some countries against the flu, can promote an earlier response to infection.

“If there is a local immune response, it will take care of the virus before it becomes established in the lungs and starts causing problems,” he said.

So far, the WHO has licensed seven vaccines against covid-19: Pfizer / BioNTech, Moderna, AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Sinopharm, Sinovac and, last week, Bharat Biotech.

“None of the vaccines is 100% (effective). Nobody ever said that vaccines were going to be 100% protective, “he said.

“So far, with the vaccines that we have approved, there has been no sign that has been so concerning that we had to … rethink the vaccine,” he added.

According to the AFP balance, more than 7.250 million doses of anticovid vaccines have been administered in the world. (I)