Get ready for Covid vaccine PILLS! Researchers are developing an oral shot that kills the virus BEFORE it infects the body
- Researchers in Japan have developed a Covid vaccine in pill form
- When it was given to monkeys, it saw them develop the necessary antibodies
- READ MORE: FDA Approves New Covid Booster Vaccines for Every American
You may soon be able to take a pill instead of a vaccine to protect yourself against Covid.
Researchers in Japan have developed a Covid vaccine in pill form that, when given to monkeys, caused them to produce the necessary antibodies to protect against the virus without causing visible side effects.
Like a vaccine, the pill contains a small inactive part of the Covid virus, but the antibodies are released into the mucus, rather than the blood, making them closer to the real virus and able to destroy it more quickly.
The FDA approved a new Covid booster vaccine on Tuesday, hoping to boost protection before winter as cases rise across the country, but appetite for yet another shot is waning and a pill form of immunization could stem the decline in vaccination rates can counteract.
Researchers in Japan have developed a Covid vaccine in pill form that, when given to monkeys, caused them to produce the necessary antibodies to protect against Covid, without any visible side effects
The most effective way to stop viruses is before they enter human cells. Researchers believe it is important for antibodies to be produced in the mucus so that they are closer to where the virus lives on the outer surface of epithelial cells, which generate mucus.
A specific category of antibodies, called Immunoglobulin A, functions in mucus and can neutralize viruses, but the production of specific immunoglobulins or antibodies against a virus, such as those to protect against Covid, must be induced by a vaccination.
In this study, researchers found that an oral Covid vaccine caused the production of immunoglobulin A when taken orally, under the tongue, by monkeys. And the vaccine caused no significant side effects, unlike some traditional vaccines that have been used.
The oral immunization is a type of protein-based vaccine, such as the vaccine used for HPV or hepatitis B.
It works by trapping a piece of the virus, which triggers an immune response and generates antibodies. These can then be reproduced by the body if it comes into contact with the virus in the future.
The scientists said this could mean that with further research, clinics could soon be able to distribute oral vaccines for Covid, which may be more popular than injections and more protective against the virus.
Oral vaccines are not a new type of immunization. Other diseases against which oral vaccinations are administered are polio, adenovirus and typhoid.
The research was published Wednesday in the journal Biology Methods and Protocols.