a new study featured
biorxiv
describes how a vaccine, administered intranasally to monkeys, caused a robust immune response to sars-cov-2, the virus that causes covid-19.
the preprint research paper — which has not yet been peer reviewed — is the latest glimmer of hope for a world still in the throes of a devastating pandemic.
in most currently available vaccines, two doses injected directly into the muscle are spread out over a few weeks. but in this study, researchers not only administered the vaccine (chad-sars-cov-2) through the noses of the monkeys (rhesus macaques), but only one dose was required.
only having to administer one dose of a vaccine would be a massive development for public health officials as the current two-dose method not only requires more time, but allows for
viral shedding
to occur, meaning vaccinated people can still spread the disease to others even though they are protected.
in this study, researchers vaccinated 12 rhesus macaques and then gave them a heavy dose of sars-cov-2 four weeks later intranasally and directly into their bronchial tubes. several days later, infectious virus was not found on the nasal swabs of the vaccinated animals.
“overall, our data suggest that chad-sars-cov-2 vaccine protects the nasopharyngeal region from sars-cov-2 infection and results in reduced viral rna levels and accelerated clearance,” the researchers wrote. “as this single intranasal dose vaccine confers protection against sars-cov-2 in non-human primates, it is a promising candidate for limiting sars-cov-2 infection and transmission in humans.”