Introducing patches in LMICs can be a cost-effective strategy to revitalise measles immunisation programmes with stagnant uptake and reach undervaccinated children.

Senior Staff Nurse Margaret Akpene Tekwei said of her upset patients, "This is what we face daily. and I don't blame them because even we, the nurses, feel the pain when we try to push the needle through the body. It is not easy."

Just a little pinch?

While research has shown that needle fear constitutes a significant barrier to vaccination in children, the ouch factor is not even the major downside to needle-based delivery of vaccines.

Needle-based jabs can be logistically tricky to handle, especially in disadvantaged settings. Often, they need unbroken, end-to-end cold chains; they need well-trained health workers, both to draw up correct dosages and to correctly administer them.

Scientists and public health experts hope that a new technology, vaccine patches – small round stickers pressed to the skin, rough to the touch but not syringe-sharp – could help.