Hyderabad-based Bharat Biotech, makers of the homegrown Covaxin are also working to produce upto a billion doses of a nasal COVID-19 adenovirus vaccine in collaboration with Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis, Missouri. While the vaccine is currently in phase I trial in the country, trials are also expected to happen in India.

Bharat Biotech will also be handling large-scale production of the vaccine at its Hyderabad headquartered base. Terming them to be a useful tool for launching a ‘multi-pronged attack’, experts have suggested that nasal vaccines would be able to target the deadly virus in a more careful and helpful manner by taking on an active role from the first level barriers of the body, i.e., the nasal cavities, respiratory tract and passageways. However, no estimated date of delivery or clinical trials has been made clear yet.

(Representational image used)