A Long Island hospital is one of three national sites running clinical trials on an experimental nasal COVID-19 vaccine that could help reduce transmission and infections of the disease, experts said.
NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola has started signing up eligible adults between the ages of 18 and 64 for the trial, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
If the nasal vaccine gains approval, it could provide an alternative to people who have been hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We get infected with COVID through our respiratory system,” said Dr. Martín Bäcker, associate director of the vaccine center at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island. “Having our immune system activated at the site of infection might lead to more sterilizing immunity, which might help prevent milder infections or [prevent] transmissions better than the currently available vaccines.”
Meanwhile, the summer COVID-19 wave continues with cases, emergency room visits and hospitalizations on the rise, according to the national statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Long Island, there were 217 people hospitalized for COVID-19 on Monday, the highest since February. That’s an increase from 192 people hospitalized on the Island a week earlier.
Most of the current COVID-19 cases appear to be mild infections, which would be the target of the experimental nasal vaccine.
“While first-generation COVID-19 vaccines continue to be effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death, they are less successful at preventing infection and milder forms of disease,” Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a statement. “With the continual emergence of new virus variants, there is a critical need to develop next-generation COVID-19 vaccines, including nasal vaccines that could reduce SARS-CoV-2 infections and transmission.”
In animal tests, the vaccine “produced robust systemic immune responses,” according to the NIH. This is the first time it will be tested on people.
About 60 people across all three sites will be enrolled in the study. The other locations are Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and The Hope Clinic of Emory University in Georgia. In order to be eligible, people need to have received at least three prior doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Bäcker, who is overseeing the Phase 1 clinical trial on Long Island, said the first group of volunteers will receive one low dose of the vaccine nasal spray.
If the vaccine is well tolerated and there are no safety concerns, the next group will receive a higher dose and the third group an even higher dose.
Over the next year, subjects will be evaluated numerous times to see what kind of immune response can be measured in their blood and in their nose.
“We are mainly trying to learn if this is safe and how it activates the immune system,” Bäcker said.
He said giving the public another option may help eventually boost the number of people who get vaccinated. Between Sept. 14, 2023, and May 11, 2024, only 22.5% of adults in the United States reported receiving the updated COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC.
Dr. Andrea Cox, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, likened the protection of a vaccine to the protection of an army sitting on the border.
“What we want is a vaccine that doesn’t even let the invader in,” said Cox, who is not involved in the study but specializes in viral vaccines. “The virus comes in through the nose and it sets up infection there and then spreads down into the lungs and causes all sorts of problems.”
The nasal vaccine uses a pneumonia virus to deliver the spike protein, which may be more effective in delivering the vaccine to where the infections begin, according to the NIH.
“That virus has been honed to grab onto cells in your nose,” Cox said. “It sticks to the cells in the nose, which is what the virus has evolved to do.”
Becker said people interested in participating in the study can call 516-663-3890 or email NYULongIslandvaccine@nyulangone.org for more information.
“Those who volunteer are true heroes,” Bäcker said. “We try to remind people that no medication, no vaccine, nothing we use in medicine could be advanced to the point of approval without the participation of volunteers.”
A Long Island hospital is one of three national sites running clinical trials on an experimental nasal COVID-19 vaccine that could help reduce transmission and infections of the disease, experts said.
NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island in Mineola has started signing up eligible adults between the ages of 18 and 64 for the trial, sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
If the nasal vaccine gains approval, it could provide an alternative to people who have been hesitant to get the COVID-19 vaccine.
“We get infected with COVID through our respiratory system,” said Dr. Martín Bäcker, associate director of the vaccine center at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island. “Having our immune system activated at the site of infection might lead to more sterilizing immunity, which might help prevent milder infections or [prevent] transmissions better than the currently available vaccines.”
WHAT TO KNOW
- NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island is one of three hospitals across the United States participating in a clinical trial for an experimental COVID-19 nasal vaccine.
- Scientists say the nasal vaccine could better target the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 to help reduce infections and transmissions.
- The hospital is starting to sign up eligible adults between the ages of 18 and 64 for the trial, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health.
Meanwhile, the summer COVID-19 wave continues with cases, emergency room visits and hospitalizations on the rise, according to the national statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
On Long Island, there were 217 people hospitalized for COVID-19 on Monday, the highest since February. That’s an increase from 192 people hospitalized on the Island a week earlier.
Study to enroll about 60
Most of the current COVID-19 cases appear to be mild infections, which would be the target of the experimental nasal vaccine.
“While first-generation COVID-19 vaccines continue to be effective at preventing severe illness, hospitalizations, and death, they are less successful at preventing infection and milder forms of disease,” Dr. Jeanne Marrazzo, director of the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said in a statement. “With the continual emergence of new virus variants, there is a critical need to develop next-generation COVID-19 vaccines, including nasal vaccines that could reduce SARS-CoV-2 infections and transmission.”
In animal tests, the vaccine “produced robust systemic immune responses,” according to the NIH. This is the first time it will be tested on people.
About 60 people across all three sites will be enrolled in the study. The other locations are Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and The Hope Clinic of Emory University in Georgia. In order to be eligible, people need to have received at least three prior doses of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Dr. Martín Bäcker, associate director of the vaccine center at NYU Langone Hospital-Long Island. “We are mainly trying to learn if this is safe and how it activates the immune system,” he said. Credit: Debbie Egan-Chin
Bäcker, who is overseeing the Phase 1 clinical trial on Long Island, said the first group of volunteers will receive one low dose of the vaccine nasal spray.
If the vaccine is well tolerated and there are no safety concerns, the next group will receive a higher dose and the third group an even higher dose.
Over the next year, subjects will be evaluated numerous times to see what kind of immune response can be measured in their blood and in their nose.
“We are mainly trying to learn if this is safe and how it activates the immune system,” Bäcker said.
New option, more vaccinations?
He said giving the public another option may help eventually boost the number of people who get vaccinated. Between Sept. 14, 2023, and May 11, 2024, only 22.5% of adults in the United States reported receiving the updated COVID-19 vaccine, according to the CDC.
Dr. Andrea Cox, an infectious disease specialist and professor of medicine at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, likened the protection of a vaccine to the protection of an army sitting on the border.
“What we want is a vaccine that doesn’t even let the invader in,” said Cox, who is not involved in the study but specializes in viral vaccines. “The virus comes in through the nose and it sets up infection there and then spreads down into the lungs and causes all sorts of problems.”
The nasal vaccine uses a pneumonia virus to deliver the spike protein, which may be more effective in delivering the vaccine to where the infections begin, according to the NIH.
“That virus has been honed to grab onto cells in your nose,” Cox said. “It sticks to the cells in the nose, which is what the virus has evolved to do.”
Becker said people interested in participating in the study can call 516-663-3890 or email NYULongIslandvaccine@nyulangone.org for more information.
“Those who volunteer are true heroes,” Bäcker said. “We try to remind people that no medication, no vaccine, nothing we use in medicine could be advanced to the point of approval without the participation of volunteers.”
Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.
