Coronavirus: could China inhale its way out of zero-Covid restrictions with oral inoculations?

Name: How ordinary people in China view the country’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ policy
Uploaded: 2022-10-26T13:14:41.000Z
Duration: 3 min 8 s
Description: How ordinary people in China view the country’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ policy

Authorities in Shanghai have started administering an oral version of a Covid-19 vaccine in a bid to get more booster doses into people

‘It was like drinking a cup of milk tea,’ said one resident after sucking in the new needle-free vaccine

Reading Time:3 minutes

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In what may be a world first, authorities in Shanghai have started administering an oral version of the Covid-19 vaccine in a bid to get more booster doses into people. Photo: AP

Associated Press

Published: 9:14pm, 26 Oct 2022

In what appeared to be a world first, Shanghai on Wednesday started administering an inhalable Covid-19 vaccine.

The vaccine, a mist that is sucked in through the mouth, is being offered for free as a booster dose for previously vaccinated people, according to an announcement on an official city social media account.

Scientists hope that such needle-free vaccines will make vaccination more accessible in countries with fragile health systems because they are easier to administer. They also may persuade people who do not like needles to get inoculated.

China wants more people to get booster shots before it relaxes strict pandemic restrictions that are holding back the economy and are increasingly out of sync with the rest of the world. As of mid-October, about 90 per cent of Chinese were fully vaccinated and 57 per cent had received a booster shot.

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How ordinary people in China view the country’s ‘dynamic zero-Covid’ policy

A online video posted by a state media outlet showed people at a community health centre sticking the short nozzle of a white cup into their mouths. The accompanying text said that after slowly inhaling, a person holds their breath for five seconds, with the entire procedure completed in 20 seconds.

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