Dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic and avoiding overwhelming hospital systems have been top priorities for governments worldwide. The available Covid-19 vaccines have proved their efficiency, and more than 7.14 billion vaccines doses have been administered globally. However, needle phobia has been preventing some from getting their shots.
This condition, known as trypanophobia, has been one of the reasons why some people have decided to remain unvaccinated. The good news is that a Covid-19 patch is being tested in Australia at the University of Queensland.
A Covid-19 vaccine patch might become available in the future
The Covid-19 patch has been developed because it is easier to administer, it might not require special transportation conditions, and could help even those afraid of needles. The patch has an applicator that triggers 5000 microscopic projections into the skin. Another great news is that one patch is enough to reach full vaccination status. The findings have been published in the Science Advances journal, and the researchers behind the study describe in the abstract the patch and how it worked on mice:
the high-density microarray patch (HD-MAP) to deliver a SARS-CoV-2 spike subunit vaccine directly to the skin. We show that the vaccine is thermostable on the patches, with patch delivery enhancing both cellular and antibody immune responses. Elicited antibodies potently neutralize clinically relevant isolates including the Alpha and Beta variants. Last, a single dose of HD-MAP–delivered spike provided complete protection from a lethal virus challenge in an ACE2-transgenic mouse model. Collectively, these data show that HD-MAP delivery of a SARS-CoV-2 vaccine was superior to traditional needle-and-syringe vaccination and may be a significant addition to the ongoing COVID-19 (coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic.
If the patch proves to be safe and efficient in human trials, this could help many people worldwide receive much-needed protection against the new coronavirus. Unfortunately, over 5 million people have lost their lives due to the SARS-CoV-2 infection.