In the future, some Covid-19 vaccines may not be jabs in the arm. They could be a nasal spray or even a patch on the skin. Those are just two examples of the kind of next-generation vaccine technology that federal health officials are hoping to help advance.

The US Department of Health and Human Services announced Friday that it has selected three initial next-generation vaccine candidates to receive funding awards to help kick-start planning for Phase 2b clinical trials, slated to begin as early as this winter. Two of those studies involve intranasal vaccine candidates, and one involves a self-amplifying mRNA vaccine candidate.

HHS announced more than $500 million in awards to help advance the development of potential vaccines and therapeutics, which includes those initial three vaccine candidates.