A girl in Kazakhstan is vaccinated against measles. New trials using vaccine patches instead of injections are showing promise.
Few people like injections. If you have children, you will have even more headaches when they need to be vaccinated with mandatory vaccinations. But now, there is an easier alternative to vaccination, which is to apply the vaccine through a patch like a plaster.
The World Health Organization has been helping to develop microneedle patches for this vaccine for years. Early data from a trial conducted in The Gambia showed that the patch was effective in protecting children from measles infection, and its promise was promising.
Birgitte Giersing, team leader of WHO's vaccine products and vaccination research unit, said people may be more willing to get vaccinated through skin patches than to get shots. This technology could be a major breakthrough that will protect susceptible populations from preventable disease infections and, yes, save lives, especially in low-resource settings.
She noted that patch vaccines are easier to transport than traditional vaccines that require injections, especially in the event of an outbreak or humanitarian emergency.
At the same time, Gilsin said the patches could help increase vaccination coverage with vaccines such as measles and rubella. Vaccines for these two diseases have been around for decades, but during the pandemic, vaccination rates have declined, and there are now millions of susceptible children in many countries.
