The corona vaccines are becoming more and more diverse. This should also encourage vaccination skeptics to immunize – especially if they are afraid of the spades.
The corona pandemic continues to run its course. Due to the highly contagious omicron variant, the 7-day incidences in Baden-Württemberg* and throughout Germany are still very high. The vaccination rate, on the other hand, has stagnated. According to the federal government’s vaccination dashboard, 75.2 percent of the total population has been vaccinated twice and 56.3 percent have been boosted. So how can the previous vaccine skeptics be persuaded to be immunized after all? As echo24.de * reports, there are now several approaches here.
One of them is forcing vaccine skeptics to do the spade. At least for some professional groups, partial vaccination should come as early as mid-March – nationwide*. And even if some federal states had recently resisted the implementation because of the predominantly mild omicron variant, Baden-Württemberg, for example, has now committed to partial vaccination*. However, compulsory vaccination is not the only hope of closing the vaccination gap.
Alternatives to previous corona vaccines: several vaccines in the starting blocks
New vaccines should also gradually convince previous vaccine skeptics. The mode of action in particular is crucial here in order to reach previously unvaccinated people who reject mRNA vaccines. An alternative could be, for example, the vaccine from the French manufacturer Valneva*. This vaccine is generally considered an inactivated vaccine, but Valneva CEO Thomas Lingelbach has now classified this categorization as incorrect*.
Nevertheless, the preparation is in the starting blocks and, after its approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), could convince vaccine skeptics of the spade. Experts place just as much hope in the protein-based vaccine from Novavax*. This is already being vaccinated in Germany, but not yet in Baden-Württemberg – in the south-west, the vaccination start of Novavax is still being delayed for several reasons*.
New study on corona vaccine: Inhalation as an alternative to the syringe?
However, what all previous vaccines have in common is the way they are administered. All vaccines, whether mRNA, protein, vector or dead vaccine*, are injected. Still – because German researchers are now looking for participants for a study on a corona vaccine for inhalation. The scientists want to convince people with a needle phobia of a corona vaccination.
As the Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung (HAZ) reports, the researchers at the Hannover Medical School (MHH) are already well advanced in the development of the vaccine. Now the scientists are looking for participants for another study. The tolerability of the agent as a booster vaccination against corona is to be tested. But how does the corona vaccination for inhalation actually work?
New study on corona vaccine: immunization by inhalation – first results
As the MHH itself explains in a press release, the vaccine is nebulized using an electronic device that resembles an inhaler. The active ingredient mist is then inhaled through a mouthpiece as fine aerosols – a modified smallpox virus, the “Modified Vaccinia Ankara Virus” (MVA), is used. According to the RND , this is often used to transport parts of pathogens into the human organism.
We want to trigger the body’s immune response to the pathogen in the organ where it is most needed.
In this case, the spike protein of the coronavirus is used and transported directly to the lungs. As the RND further reports, the vaccine should work exactly there, since Covid-19 first affects the upper respiratory tract even with a regular infection. The MHH immunologist Reinhold Möller said to the HAZ : “We want to trigger the body’s immune response to the pathogen in the organ where it is most urgently needed.”
Inhale the corona vaccine – this is how interested parties can take part in the study
Incidentally, there are already initial results for the corona vaccine for inhalation – hamsters were vaccinated with the vaccine in animal experiments. The balance according to HAZ : All animals were completely protected after the inhalation of the vaccine. However, whether this success can also be transferred to humans is to be tested in a study with volunteers.
Healthy people who have been vaccinated twice against the corona virus or even boosted can register. The test persons must be between 18 and 60 years old – in the case of boosted volunteers, the booster vaccination must have been more than three months ago. All information about participation can be found on the homepage of the Hannover Medical School. Among other things, the subjects receive an expense allowance and a thorough medical examination. * echo24.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA.
