India permits clinical trial for nasal Covid booster shot

Aditi Tandon

New Delhi, January 28

India on Friday cleared Bharat Biotech’s intranasal Covid vaccine candidate for clinical trials as Covid booster dose.

The central licensing authority (Drug Controller General of India) granted the permission for the world’s first nasal Covid shot as a booster.

Once approved, this could be a game changer, sources said, citing the ease of vaccine delivery.

The permission to conduct clinical trials has been given for nine sites across India, including Pt BD Sharma Postgraduate Institute of Medical Sciences (PGIMS), UHS, Rothak, Haryana, AIIMS New Delhi and AIIMS Patna.

The candidate cleared for trials is Chimpanzee Adenovirus Vectored Covid Vaccine (BBV154).