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Research

German scientists report early success with nasal Covid-19 vaccine in hamsters

A German team says a live but weakened nasal Covid-19 vaccine blocked infection in hamsters' upper airways, achieving sterilizing immunity. The study suggests promise, but human trials remain.

AI News Feed · 2026-08-14 20:42

The vaccine uses a live but weakened form of the coronavirus. Two doses given to hamsters prevented the virus from copying itself in the nose and throat, and also prevented illness. The research was led by scientists at the Max Delbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.

Study author Emanuel Wyler said the nasal vaccine creates mucosal immunity, placing defenses exactly where the virus enters the body. He compared it to stationing firefighters under a smoke alarm, while immunity from shots is like firefighters miles away who arrive only after the fire has spread.

In head-to-head tests, the live weakened nasal vaccine produced a stronger immune response in hamsters than an mRNA-based vaccine or an adenovirus-based vaccine. The authors believe this is because the live vaccine more closely mimics a natural infection and presents the entire coronavirus to the immune system, not just its spike protein.

The nasal vaccine also appears to summon IgA antibodies, which have four arms to grab invaders rather than the two arms on IgG antibodies, potentially making them more effective against new variants. To create the weakened virus, the researchers used a technique called codon pair deoptimization, which makes the virus's genetic material harder for cells to translate, similar to reading text with every letter in a different font.

Vaccine experts not involved in the study said the results are encouraging but cautioned that more tests are needed. The vaccine must clear several hurdles before it reaches clinics, and the findings need to be repeated in primates and humans.

The study comes as the United States continues to record hundreds of Covid-19 deaths daily, and the virus remains a threat to vulnerable groups. Other nasal vaccines have already been rolled out in China and India since last fall, but studies on their effectiveness have not been published, leaving uncertainty about how well this approach works in people. Researchers hope next-generation vaccines like this one could stop transmission and reduce the risk of new variants.