China approves world's first inhaled Covid vaccine for emergency use
China has become the first country to green-light an inhaled Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for potential use of the needle-free product in the country, where suppressing the spread of Covid-19 remains a top priority.
The vaccine maker, CanSino Biologics, said in a statement Sunday that China's medicines regulator had approved the inhaled dose for emergency use as a booster vaccine.
The product, known as Convidecia Air, delivers a vaccine dose through a puff of air from a nebulizer that is then inhaled by mouth. CanSino's injected Convidecia Covid-19 vaccine is already in use in China and has been approved in a handful of other countries.
According to a database maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), CanSino's new product is one of two specifically "inhaled" vaccines that had reached clinical phase development, as a number of companies worldwide research innovative ways to deliver Covid-19 protection via the nose and mouth.
China continues to adhere to a stringent zero-Covid policy, even as the rest of the world learns to live with the virus. Pressure on officials to get outbreaks under control is mounting in the lead-up to a twice-a-decade political meeting next month, where Chinese leader Xi Jinping is expected to break with tradition and step into a third term.
More than 70 Chinese cities have been placed under full or partial Covid lockdown since late August, impacting more than 300 million people, according to a CNN tally.
A low vaccination rate among the elderly is one medical reason used by Chinese authorities to justify the ongoing disease control measures.
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