Mice respond well to COVID-19 intranasal vaccine at WashU

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have developed a single-dose vaccine that has proven effective in preventing COVID-19 in mice. The next step is to test the vaccine on non-human primates, followed by humans.

What sets this research apart is the method of administering the vaccine: It’s deliverable by nose, which seems to produce a better immune response than an intramuscular injection—and that makes sense, since the disease gains hold via the nose and respiratory tract.

Senior author of the study, Michael S. Diamond, MD, PhD, told ZME Science, “These mice were well protected from disease. And in some of the mice, we saw evidence of sterilizing immunity, where there is no sign of infection whatsoever after the mouse is challenged with the virus.”