No more needles

As an oral Covid-19 inoculation is tested in the US, Jane Symons asks if no-jab vaccines could be the future of immunisation

- Jane Symons

Few of us enjoy needles, yet in the past year or so, most of us have embraced them – celebrating appointments, queuing to be jabbed and sharing vaccination selfies on social media. But one day, needles and the devastating impact of Covid-19, could be consigned to history.

As a result of the pandemic, there has been an explosion in vaccine research, particularly around a new generation of no-jab vaccines which use different technologies to produce stronger immune responses. There are currently 13 nasal sprays or pills in development for Covid-19 alone, with several of those trials underway in the UK.

Young children already routinely receive flu vaccines via a nasal mist, and trials have begun into nasal sprays to protect against respiratory syncytial virus, or RSV, which is a major cause of potentially lethal chest infections in the very young and the elderly.

The latest results from a clinical trial into an oral vaccine against norovirus – the vomiting bug notorious for turning dream cruise-ship holidays into nightmare cabin lockdowns – are soon to be published.

And in the US, researchers have even developed a nasal vaccine which they hope will prevent, or slow, Alzheimer’s by stimulating immune cells to break down sticky plaques in the brain associated with this form of dementia.

The first doses were given to patients with early dementia late last year and Dr Tanuja Chitnis, the scientist leading the study, says, “Research in this area has paved the way for us to pursue a whole new avenue for potentially treating not only Alzheimer’s, but also other neurodegenerative diseases.”