Potential of Microneedle Systems for COVID-19 Vaccination: Current Trends and Challenges

Abstract

To prevent the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and aid restoration to prepandemic normality, global mass vaccination is urgently needed. Inducing herd immunity through mass vaccination has proven to be a highly effective strategy for preventing the spread of many infectious diseases, which protects the most vulnerable population groups that are unable to develop immunity, such as people with immunodeficiencies or weakened immune systems due to underlying medical or debilitating conditions. In achieving global outreach, the maintenance of the vaccine potency, transportation, and needle waste generation become major issues. Moreover, needle phobia and vaccine hesitancy act as hurdles to successful mass vaccination. The use of dissolvable microneedles for COVID-19 vaccination could act as a major paradigm shift in attaining the desired goal to vaccinate billions in the shortest time possible. In addressing these points, we discuss the potential of the use of dissolvable microneedles for COVID-19 vaccination based on the current literature.

Applications of Machine Learning (ML) and Mathematical Modeling (MM) in Healthcare with Special Focus on Cancer Prognosis and Anticancer Therapy: Current Status and Challenges

“…For MM, the Susceptible–Exposed–Infected–Removed (SEIR) model and the Susceptible–Infected–Recovered (SIR) model were the main models upon which the majority of these were built. In the past, these models were heavily utilized to explore how epidemics spread across different types of transmission networks [ 158 , 159 , 160 , 161 ]. For ML, Naive Bayes (NB), Convolutional Neural Networks (CNN), Linear Discriminant Analysis (LDA), Logistic Regression (LR), Random Forest (RF), Support Vector Machines (SVM), and Decision Trees (DT) were a few of the supervised learning algorithms used to identify COVID-19.…”

Protection against Severe Illness versus Immunity—Redefining Vaccine Effectiveness in the Aftermath of COVID-19

“…Other MN-based vaccines currently under investigation include a recombinant Bacillus anthracis vaccine formulated with aluminum and administered by hollow MNs [ 166 ], a live attenuated chimeric flavivirus vaccine delivered by skin microabrasion for the treatment of Japanese Encephalitis and yellow fever [ 167 ], and a smallpox DNA vaccine delivered by MN coating and skin electroporation [ 168 ]. It is therefore not surprising that MN-based delivery of COVID-19 vaccines is a topic of interest, which could potentially lead to a paradigm shift in how large numbers of people could be safely and rapidly vaccinated with fewer logistical hurdles and reduced amounts of biowaste [ 169 ].…”

The Breadth of Bacteriophages Contributing to the Development of the Phage-Based Vaccines for COVID-19: An Ideal Platform to Design the Multiplex Vaccine

“…Various vaccine candidates were considered for vaccine development during the COVID-19 pandemic [ 26 ]. The protection efficiency and vaccine efficacy diverging towards the new emerging variants of SARS-CoV-2 [ 27 ] is a serious concern in COVID-19 treatment. The available mRNA SARS-CoV-2 vaccines are efficacious in preventing COVID-19 disease; however, they do not provide sufficient protection and are unable to persuade proficient mucosal immunity [ 28 ].…”