Needle-less vaccine being developed on Long Island

STONY BROOK (WABC) -- What if getting a vaccine could be as simple as putting on a bandage? Researchers on Long Island are working to make that idea a reality.

Kasia Sawicka, a researcher at Stony Brook University, is working on the ImmunoMatrix patch. The preservative-free patch can be applied anywhere on the skin and works within 24 hours.

Unlike conventional vaccines, Sawicka's patch can be unrefrigerated for up to 10 weeks. That could revolutionize not only the way we receive vaccines domestically, but also around the world.

And that would be particularly useful in third-world countries.

"What if a drone could fly in and deliver a Band-Aid?" Sawicka said. "Everyone could stick it on."

It's believed it could take another 10 years until the patch is commercially available, which is because there's still a lot of research to do, including human trials that hopefully would start in the next four years.

"The results we've been able to gather so far are incredibly, incredibly exciting," Sawicka said.

The patch, she says, has already proved effective in studies of vaccines for the flu, anthrax and whooping cough.