If everything goes right, Pakistan will soon have its own nasal COVID-19 vaccine, reports say. The trial for the nasal vaccine is expected to start within two months' time. 

Cansino, a COVID-19 vaccine developed by China, is currently being locally manufactured in Pakistan. The Pakistani government is working to develop its nasal version. 

“It will be a single-dose vaccine, which does not require a syringe. It is hoped the clinical trial will commence in six to eight weeks after approval from three committees is obtained,” Dr. Javed Akram, the vice-chancellor of Pakistan’s University of Health Science, was quoted as saying by Dawn. 

The trial would be conducted on at least 5000 people and its result would then be compared with those being given through syringe. 

Once protocols are finalized, the university’s review board will analyze them and then refer them to the National Bioethics Committee,” Akram said. “Final approval of the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (Drap) would be required. I hope the entire process will be completed within six to eight weeks,” he added. 

So far, around 1,24,000 vaccines of Cansino have been manufactured locally in Pakistan. Drug regulators in Pakistan would give it approval after conducting quality and control tests on the first batch.