Could a new needle-free vaccine be on the way?
- Researchers in Texas are working on a way to deliver vaccines with no needle
- The device is similar to an airsoft gun, with less pain than an injection
- 16% of people in the U.S. avoid vaccines because of needle phobia
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(NewsNation) — Researchers in Texas are developing a new way to administer vaccines without needles, using a targeted puff of air to deliver vaccines through the skin.
At The University of Texas at Dallas, scientists are working on a laboratory version of an airsoft gun that can shoot right through the skin of your arm. The project lead said that it feels like getting hit by a Nerf gun, and that it could be a big deal for those who hate needles.
While there are some alternatives to injections for some vaccines, including oral vaccines for polio and typhoid and a nasal spray for the flu, many routine vaccinations still require a needle.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as many as one in four adults and at least two out of every three kids are afraid of needles. That fear can become a phobia and research shows that 16% of people are so afraid, they may skip critical vaccines.
The research team refers to it as the “mof-jet” and they came up with the idea while they were bored during the hard lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The device actually shoots the vaccine, in the form of a powder, into your arm. The use of powdered vaccine material is a key development. Traditional vaccines use liquid, and researchers say a similar type of device was used in the 1950s and 1960s.
Unlike this new machine, the old devices used liquid, which could bounce back out of the skin and spread disease to others. It was also very painful.
The device is also similar to a gene gun used by veterinarians, but it should be much less expensive.
Yalini Wijesundara, a Ph.D. candidate working on the project, said the device is also capable of changing how fast medicine is released into the body, which means it may have uses beyond routine vaccinations.
“I think the really cool thing about this system is, the material that we are using with the organic framework, we can change the kinetics of the drug,” Wijesundara said. “Basically, we can use this for vaccine purposes or therapeutic delivery like insulin. Insulin needs to go to the body superfast.”
Right now, the machine is still in laboratory development stages, so don’t expect it to be available for your flu shot this fall, as there’s still a while to go before the device hits the market.
