AstraZeneca submitted a request for the FDA on Wednesday to approve a self-administered nasal flu vaccine for people ages two to 49 years old. The vaccine, FluMist, would become the first at-home vaccine that would allow anyone 18 years of age and older to administer it to themselves and those underage.
If approved, at-home FluMist would be used similarly to other nose sprays, by injecting it into the nasal cavity, “providing a convenient new choice for individuals and families who want to protect their loved ones against the flu,” AstraZeneca said in a press release. FluMist is already an approved flu vaccine, but it currently can only be administered by a health care professional.
AstraZeneca says it hopes at-home FluMist could increase the number of people who get vaccinated against the illness. For the 2021-2022 flu season, 9 million people were sick with the flu according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Of those 9 million, approximately 100,000 went to the hospital and 5,000 died from the flu.
Lisa Glasser, head of U.S. medical affairs, vaccines, and immune therapies at AstraZeneca, told Yahoo Finance Tuesday that the push for FDA approval stems from lessons learned during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We put in people’s hands nasal swabs to test for COVID, which people were very easily able to handle and continue to use,” Glasser said.
She says that the company is confident that a home FluMist vaccine will be easy to use and would be shipped with specific directions on how to administer the nasal spray. Details surrounding the packaging and shipment process are not yet available. AstraZeneca says it expects it to be available in the U.S. for the 2024-2025 flu season.
The company did not immediately respond to Gizmodo’s request for more information about the cost of an at-home FluMist vaccine and its potential coverage by insurers.
