The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first flu vaccine that does not require a healthcare practitioner for administration, VOA reports.

This vaccine can be brought home in the form of a nasal spray, which will enable expanding the population's access to annual flu shots.

AstraZeneca's FluMist spray was approved by the FDA back in 2003, but only now has this US government agency allowed patients or their caregivers to use it on their own. However, a prescription from a doctor is necessary to receive this medicine.