A STUDY investigating the delivery of the Covid vaccine through a nasal spray is being carried out by Oxford University.

Thirty volunteers aged between 18-40 from the Oxford region, are taking part in the Phase 1 trial.

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In April, they received the same vaccine that is currently being delivered by injection, but by an intranasal spray device, similar to many over-the-counter sprays.

The aim of the study is to investigate the level of immune system responses using this delivery technique, as well as monitoring safety and any adverse reactions.

Dr Meera Madhavan, lead clinical research fellow, at the Jenner Institute said: "Not having needles when you have a vaccination is good for a lot of people but also potentially it might be easier to deliver because you don't need as much training if you don't have to use needles.

"We're also interested in looking at whether or not it reduces the transmission of Covid amongst people who don't have symptoms.

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"Although the standard vaccinations prevent people getting very sick, they don't do so well at preventing people from passing on Covid when they don't have any symptoms and that's one of the main concerns with transmission - people are carrying the virus in their nose but don't know.

"We're also interested in whether or not giving a vaccine by the same route you'd catch the virus through would give you that extra layer of immunity."

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