All about the world's first inhalable COVID-19 vaccine to get approval

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The world's first inhaled vaccine against COVID-19 has been approved by China. The clearance came amid experts around the world seeking more focus on vaccines other than the intramuscular ones.

China is following a strict zero-COVID strategy, with officials under pressure to quickly crack down on any local rise in infections.

Here is what you need to know about about the vaccine approved for emergency use in China:

1) Called Convidecia Air, the vaccine has been developed by Tianjin-headquartered company CanSino. It is meant to be used as a booster dose.

2) Convidecia Air is a non-invasive vaccine. It uses a nebuliser to convert liquid into an aerosol that can be inhaled through the mouth. The vaccine can effectively induce immune protection "after just one breath", CanSino has said.

3) CanSino had received the go-ahead to conduct clinical trials of the vaccine in March last year.

4) Convidecia Air is the inhaled version of CanSino’s one-shot vaccine that showed 66 percent effectiveness in preventing COVID-19 infection in early trials. Its effectiveness against severe disease was 91 percent.

5) A preprint study from July this year showed that two doses of the Sinovac vaccine and a booster dose of CanSino's inhaled vaccine produced greater antibodies than three doses of the former. Four weeks later, over 92. 5 percent people who took the inhaled dose had neutralising antibodies against Omicron.

6) The CanSino inhaled vaccine will not be available immediately, CNBC reported. The makers said they need more administrative clearances.