China has become the first country to endorse a COVID-19 vaccine that is not administered intravenously. The needle-free, inhalable version of the COVID-19 vaccine was made by Tianjin-based CanSino Biologics Inc. After the approval of this vaccine, the company’s shares shot up by 14.5% at the start of this week in Hong Kong.
CanSino announced in a statement to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange on Sunday that China’s National Medical Products Administration has licenced its Ad5-nCoV vaccine for use as a booster vaccine in an emergency situation.
The vaccine is a new version of CanSino’s one-shot Covid drug, which was the first in the world to undergo human testing in March 2020 at the start of the global pandemic. It has been used in China, Mexico, Pakistan, Malaysia and Hungary after being rolled out in February 2021.
According to CanSino, the inhaled version can stimulate cellular immunity and induce mucosal immunity to boost protection without intramuscular injection.
