China validates world’s first inhaled Covid vaccine for emergency use.

China has become the first country to green-light an inhaled Covid-19 vaccine, paving the way for the potential use of the needle-free product in the country, where suppressing the spread of Covid-19 remains a top priority.

The vaccine maker, CanSino Biologics, said in a statement Sunday that China's medicines regulator had approved the inhaled dose for emergency use as a booster vaccine.

The product, known as Convidecia Air, delivers a vaccine dose through a puff of air from a nebulizer that is then inhaled by mouth. CanSino's injected Convidecia Covid-19 vaccine is already in use in China and has been approved in many other countries.

According to a database maintained by the World Health Organization (WHO), CanSino's new product is one of two specifically "inhaled" vaccines that had reached clinical phase development, as a number of companies worldwide research innovative ways to deliver Covid-19 protection via the nose and mouth.

The clearance of the inhaled shot comes as multiple Chinese cities enforce large-scale Covid lockdowns and mass testing drives in response to small-scale outbreaks.

The country continues to adhere to a stringent zero-Covid policy, even as the rest of the world learns to live with the virus.

More than 70 Chinese cities have been placed under full or partial Covid lockdown since late August, impacting more than 300 million people, according to reports.

A low vaccination rate among the elderly is one medical reason used by Chinese authorities to justify the ongoing disease control measures.

(Reported by CNN)