Researchers Begin Trials of COVID-19 Nasal Spray Vaccine

SYDNEY - Researchers in Australia are starting clinical trials of a new type of COVID-19 vaccine — a nasal spray. Scientists at Brisbane's Nucleus Network believe that the treatment could be more effective against the virus than the AstraZeneca and Pfizer drugs and that it would allow patients who are afraid of needles to be inoculated.

Despite concerted public health campaigns, the vaccination program in Australia has been slow compared with those of other countries. There have been supply problems, complaints about poor planning by the government and, with the country’s relatively low level of coronavirus cases, complacency and hesitancy in the community. Australia is accelerating its inoculation rollout. In the future, vaccines could be administered more easily — as a nasal spray designed to “attack the virus” as it enters the body. Dr. Paul Griffin, medical director at the Nucleus Network, a research organization that’s beginning trials of the nasal therapy, said that while other drugs mostly protect against developing severe symptoms of COVID-19, this one aims to reduce the risk of infection.