The Chinese city of Shanghai has started administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, in what appears to be a world first.
Residents wearing face masks wait in line to get their routine COVID-19 throat swabs tests at a coronavirus testing site in Beijing, Tuesday, Oct. 25, 2022.
BEIJING — The Chinese city of Shanghai started administering an inhalable COVID-19 vaccine on Wednesday in what appears to be a world first. The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated individuals, according to an announcement posted on an official city social media account.
Needle-free vaccines may persuade people who don’t like getting a shot to get vaccinated, as well as help expand vaccination in poor countries because they are easier to administer. China doesn’t have vaccine mandates but wants more people to get booster shots before it relaxes strict pandemic restrictions that are holding back the economy and increasingly out of synch with the rest of the world.by an online Chinese state media outlet showed people at a community health center sticking the short nozzle of a translucent white cup into their mouths.