Needle-free Polio Vaccinations Reduce Cost and Increase Uptake

As the world is confronted with an increasing number of countries reporting polio cases and poliovirus detections, an innovative vaccination strategy has been launched in polio hot spots.

According to the Global Polio Eradication Initiative, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan reported six WPV1 cases in March 2025. Last year, there were 74 polio cases, primarily in Balochistan, Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, and Sindh.

To reduce this outbreak, polio vaccination campaigns are deploying innovative delivery solutions.

On March 13, 2025, PharmaJet® announced that their Tropis intradermal (ID) delivery system was used in Pakistan's latest World Health Organization (WHO) polio eradication campaign in February 2025.

Tropis is the first and only needle-free ID delivery technology to achieve WHO prequalification.

Tropis was used to deliver a fractional dose of inactivated polio vaccine (fIPV) in parallel to oral polio vaccine (OPV) administration as part of a WHO-recommended strategy to boost humoral immunity.

Previous data from poliovirus campaigns and routine immunizations in Pakistan, Somalia, and Nigeria have demonstrated that Tropis delivery can improve coverage, decrease cost, and increase acceptability. The data also showed that Tropis is an effective and preferred solution for polio immunization campaigns that can help increase campaign coverage by over 18%.

Also, another study found the potential for up to a 47% decrease in total immunization costs, and 95% of healthcare workers preferred Tropis compared with the SoC.

Paul LaBarre, Vice President of Global Business Development at PharmaJet, commented in a press release, "The Tropis needle-free system is very effective and affordable in campaigns and routine immunizations, protecting nearly 12 million children against poliovirus."

"There is still a lot of work to do, and we are committed to achieving eradication goals so that no child suffers from paralytic polio."

In early 2025, the U.S. CDC reissued a Travel Health Notice regarding polio outbreaks and poliovirus detections in 39 countries to alert travelers of the risks.

In the United States, IPVs have been used to protect people from polio since 2000; OPVs are unavailable in the country.

The CDC recommends that international travelers planning to visit a polio-endemic area speak with a travel vaccine expert about immunization options at least one month before departure abroad.