Russia has tested a nasal spray form of its COVID-19 vaccine, which is suitable for children ages eight to 12, and plans to launch the new product in September, said Alexander Gintsburg, a scientist who led the development of the Sputnik V vaccine. .
Gintsburg, director of the Gamaleya National Research Center for Epidemiology and Microbiology, explained that the children’s spray uses the same vaccine, “only instead of a needle, a nozzle is attached,” the TASS news agency reported.
The children’s vaccine is expected to be ready for distribution on September 15, the scientist added during a meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
The researchers tested the vaccine in children between the ages of eight and 12 and found no side effects among the test group, not even increases in body temperature.
“We are inoculating our little ones (patients) nasally, we are just administering the same vaccine as a nasal spray,” Gintsburg added without giving more details about the study, or data on how many children participated.
Regarding vaccines in minors, China is preparing to vaccinate children from three years of age, thus becoming the first country in the world to immunize the youngest.
A spokesman for the Sinovac laboratory, which produces one of the three authorized injectables in the Asian country, told the AFP agency that its Coronavac immunizer could be distributed to minors.
“The Sinovac vaccine (the use of) was approved these last days for the three to 17 years,” he declared without specifying when the first doses would be administered.
The pharmaceutical company completed its clinical trials in children and adolescents, the results of which should be published by the British journal The Lancet , he added.
With information from Reuters and AFP
