No more visits to the busy clinic to get a flu vaccine, you can get it at your convenience at your home, thanks to FluMist, a needle-free nasal spray which can be self-administered at home easily.

Manufacturer Astrazeneca announced on Friday it has received approval from U.S. Food and Drug Administrationfor its nasal spray flu vaccine for self-administration at home.

FluMist, thus has become the first and only influenza vaccine in the U.S.,to be approved for self or caregiver administration at home. Anyone aged over 18 years can now self-administer or administer the vaccine to anyone aged between two and 49 years.

FDA approved the vaccine after analyzing results of a usability study of vaccine by individuals aged above 18.

"Today's approval of the first influenza vaccine for self- or caregiver-administration provides a new option for receiving a safe and effective seasonal influenza vaccine potentially with greater convenience, flexibility and accessibility for individuals and families," Peter Marks, Director, Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, FDA, said in a statement.

Flu season in US starts during the fall and winter. Starting from October, flu activity peaks between December and February.

The flu, caused by the influenza virus, mainly affects the respiratory system.There are four types of influenza viruses- type A, B, C and D.The FluMistvaccine, which is sprayed directly into the nose, is mainly used to protect against flu caused by influenza virus subtypes A and B, which cause the seasonal epidemics.

About 200 million doses of the FluMist vaccine have been used across the world since its first approval in 2003.It was first approved for individuals aged from five to 49, later in 2007, the regulatory health body extended the usage by including children aged from two to five years in the list.

The approval comes at a time when seasonal influenza causes millions of hospitalizations, health complications and deaths in the US. Every Year, more than one billion infections in the US are caused by seasonal influenza.Though most of the patients recover the infection without any treatment, sometimes it can lead to severe illness and even death.

A CDC report says that between 2010 and 2023, flu caused 9.3 million to 41 million cases of infections, 100,000 to 710,000 hospitalizations and 4,900 to 51,000 deaths every year.

However, since 2020 to 2021, there has been a 3.3 percent decline in influenza vaccination rates among US adults. Previous surveys have shown failure to attend regular well-care visits as a reason to miss the flu vaccination. Evidence shows that accessibility to flu vaccine from home helped increase use of the influenza vaccine.

"The approval of FLUMIST for self-administration is an important step forward in making vaccines more accessible to fight the high annual burden of influenza,"Iskra Reic, Executive Vice President, Vaccines and Immune Therapies, AstraZeneca, said. "For more than 20 years, FLUMIST has been the only nasal spray flu vaccine licensed in the US and now it is also the only vaccine to help individuals, families and communities access an influenza vaccine conveniently through self- and caregiver administration outside of traditional healthcare settings."

The company said, using an online pharmacy, it is planning to deliver the vaccine directly to eligible people. Eligibility will be decided through a questionnaire completed by the customers and later it will be reviewed by a pharmacist.