Explained: Needle-free system to administer Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D vaccine

Zydus will use a needle-free system manufactured by Pharma Jet. The Gujarat-based firm will be using a specific model called the 'Tropis', which received regulatory approval in Europe in 2017.

The Covid-19 vaccine is exclusively administered using the PharmaJet Tropis Needle-free Injection System. (Source: Business Wire via AP)

Zydus Cadila’s ZyCoV-D, is the first Covid-19 vaccine built on a DNA platform, to have received an Emergency Use Authorisation by a regulator. Significantly, the intradermal vaccine will be applied using a needle-free system.

Read | First Covid-19 vaccine for children above 12 years gets emergency use nod

What is the needle-free system that will be used by Zydus to administer ZyCoV-D?

Zydus will be using a needle-free system manufactured by Colorado-based firm Pharma Jet. The Gujarat-based firm will be using a specific model called the ‘Tropis’, which received regulatory approval in Europe in 2017.

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What is the Tropis needle-free system?

Tropis delivers vaccines intradermally; technology that propels liquid at high pressure to deliver vaccines through the skin without utilising needles. There are three components: the injector, the needle-free syringe, and a filling adapter.

The vaccine is administered is using a simple four-step process: prepare the injector; fill the syringe; load the injector, and give the injection at the Deltoid region.

Also in Explained | Explained: How Zydus Cadila’s ZyCov-D vaccine for Covid-19 works, and how it is different

What are the benefits of using a needle-free injector?

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A needle-free injector is said to be more accurate and requires little training. It reduces the infection-associated anxiety for the beneficiary and the vaccinator. It also does not give rise to any needlestick injuries to the health care workers. Each needle-free syringe is sterile, auto disabling, and cannot be reused.

Therefore, there is no opportunity for accidental or intentional reuse of the disposable syringes in this technology.

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Kaunain Sheriff M

Kaunain Sheriff M is an award-winning investigative journalist and the National Health Editor at The Indian Express. He is the author of Johnson & Johnson Files: The Indian Secrets of a Global Giant, an investigation into one of the world’s most powerful pharmaceutical companies. With over a decade of experience, Kaunain brings deep expertise in three areas of investigative journalism: law, health, and data. He currently leads The Indian Express newsroom’s in-depth coverage of health. His work has earned some of the most prestigious honours in journalism, including the Ramnath Goenka Award for Excellence in Journalism, the Society of Publishers in Asia (SOPA) Award, and the Mumbai Press Club’s Red Ink Award. Kaunain has also collaborated on major global investigations. He was part of the Implant Files project with the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ), which exposed malpractices in the medical device industry across the world. He also contributed to an international investigation that uncovered how a Chinese big-data firm was monitoring thousands of prominent Indian individuals and institutions in real time. Over the years, he has reported on several high-profile criminal trials, including the Hashimpura massacre, the 2G spectrum scam, and the coal block allocation case. Within The Indian Express, he has been honoured three times with the Indian Express Excellence Award for his investigations—on the anti-Sikh riots, the Vyapam exam scam, and the abuse of the National Security Act in Uttar Pradesh. ... Read More

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