Biden administration officials are raising concerns that the slow pace of developing a nasal vaccine for Covid-19 in the U.S. could pose a security risk as China, Iran and Russia approve their own vaccines taken through the nose or mouth.
Though nasal and oral vaccines are being studied in the U.S., none are close to coming on the market because Congress hasn’t approved more money to support research and development.
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The [Vaccine Research Center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases] has mapped the nasal and oral Covid vaccines in development in the U.S. and abroad. It is also testing nasal versions of the Moderna vaccine and two other types of injectable Covid-19 vaccines in monkeys, Bok said. But that probably won’t lead to a nasal Covid vaccine being approved in the U.S. anytime soon because funding for clinical trials and production is lacking.
Politico
And why is that?
Researchers working on nasal vaccines are hopeful that they could stop virus transmission by generating immunity against it in the nose and other parts of the upper respiratory system where the coronavirus enters the body. If that bears out in clinical trials, nasal vaccines would be superior to existing mRNA vaccines, which prevent severe disease but don’t stop transmission.
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Disagreement in Congress about how to pay for additional aid or whether it’s needed, as well as disinterest from major drugmakers in spending their own money on something that may not be very profitable, could mean a foreign rival gets an advantage.
...but hey, do what you want...you will anyway.
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