Vaccinations are the first step in providing lifesaving healthcare for a variety of deadly disease. While vaccines are common place in many countries, people residing in developing counties have little access due to the complications involved in transporting and preserving these medications. The development of a new vaccine that doesn’t need refrigeration could be the answers people need.

“What makes this vaccine special is that it’s heat-stable, so this gives a real chance to the most vulnerable children,” explained the study’s senior author, Rebecca Grais, Ph.D., a researcher at Epicentre, the research arm of Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders). “This is the first phase III trial that has ever been done in Niger, and it will be probably be the first vaccine that is pre-qualified [for United Nations subsidies] out of the cold chain.” The cold chain is the temperature-controlled supply chain that vaccines need so they remain at the necessary low temperature during production, storage and distribution.

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