A new needle-free COVID vaccine has started its trial and is seen to provide protection against future COVID variants.

Prof. Jonathan Heeney of Cambridge University and chief executive of DIOSynVax developed the needle-free vaccine. It is administered through a jet of air, according to a BBC News report. Heeney said that immunity begins to wane as new variants of the virus emerge, which calls for newer technologies.

The trial enrolled participants aged between 18 and 50 years old. It will take part at the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility.

The vaccine called DIOS-CoVax uses different technology to fight the disease, which could provide a wide range of protection against COVID variants and other coronaviruses, according to Heeney.

He added that it is important that they continue to develop new generation vaccine candidates in the search for protection from the next virus threats.

Heeney said that it is the first step towards a universal coronavirus vaccine they are developing.

Meanwhile, Saul Faust, clinical chief investigator and director of the NIHR Southampton Clinical Research Facility, said that the new needle-free vaccine is not simply "yet another" COVID vaccine as it keeps in mind the COVID variants and other coronaviruses, according to a Daily Mail report.

The DIOSvax technology used for the new vaccine targets to predict how the virus could mutate, which allows it to target emerging variants.

Most existing COVID vaccines use the sequence of the RNA for the spike protein from the first samples of the virus that were found in 2020.

READ NEXT: Dr. Anthony Fauci Says COVID Variant Omicron Might Evade Protections Gained by Vaccination, Previous Infection

COVID Vaccines

Pfizer and Moderna COVID vaccines use the RNA sequence for their vaccines. It then formulated lab-created mRNA to teach cells how to make a protein that imitates the protein coronavirus when infected, according to an Express report.

The said vaccine technology then triggers an immune response in the body, which produces antibodies designed to protect against the virus the vaccine mimics.

New variants such as the omicron variant have some mutations in the spike protein, which it uses to latch on to cells.

According to its website, the needle-free vaccine eyes to combine the epitopes from multiple "synthetic, novel antigens" into a single vaccine.

Omicron Variant in The U.S.

Researchers at the University of Washington found that 13 percent of 217 positive COVID case specimens collected Wednesday had the mutation.

The new number increased from about seven percent of samples that the researchers had tested from the day before.

Dr. Pavitra Roychoudhury, a researcher at the University of Washington, said that the omicron variant is clearly looking like it is rising "really quickly," according to The New York Times report.

Scientists have seen evidence that omicron can partially evade existing immune defenses provided by vaccines.

However, health experts are still trying to determine how often the variant causes severe disease.

Meanwhile, the U.S. has surpassed the 50 million COVID cases count on Monday, which is more than the combined populations of Georgia, Michigan, North Carolina, and Ohio.

READ MORE: Dr. Anthony Fauci Says Early Data Show COVID Variant Omicron Less Dangerous As Compared to Delta; South African Travel Ban to Be Reviewed

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by Mary Webber

WATCH: Pfizer shot less effective in South Africa after Omicron emerges: study - from Reuters