LunaVax’s MAP Vaccine Pilot in Nigeria
Launching in Nigeria: A new chapter in community-led vaccine access.
At LunaVax, we believe that innovation in global health doesn’t end in the lab—it begins when breakthrough tools reach the communities that need them most.
You can’t drive vaccine access without reaching the last mile.
This year, we’re advancing a feasibility-focused microneedle vaccine patch (MAP) initiative for measles immunization in Nigeria through our Harvard Medical School GCSRT capstone work. As part of our Accelerate Access initiative, we’re exploring a community-led delivery model designed to make vaccination more local, equitable, and efficient, while also assessing how biometric-supported tools may strengthen vaccine tracking and patient identification in low-resource settings.
To support last-mile outreach, mobile vans will also be evaluated during the pilot to assess their role in community education, logistics, and patch delivery workflows.
We’re inviting health facilities, outreach providers, pharmacies, and immunization leaders across Lagos, Abuja, Adamawa, and Anambra to join us as early contributors to this initiative.
Why Microneedle Vaccine Patches?
Microneedle vaccine patches (MAPs) are compact, needle-free vaccine delivery systems designed to simplify immunization, especially in underserved and hard-to-reach communities.
MAPs represent a promising shift in how vaccines may be administered in low-resource and outreach settings. Potential advantages include:
- Needle-free administration that may improve comfort and acceptability
- Reduced medical waste and sharps disposal needs
- Potentially improved thermostability, reducing cold-chain dependence
- Compact formats that support mobile and outreach delivery models
For high-burden diseases like measles, MAPs may help expand how and where vaccines can be delivered, particularly in underserved communities.
What We’re Piloting
This feasibility-focused initiative is designed to better understand how MAP-enabled delivery systems may function in real-world settings across Nigeria.
Areas being evaluated include:
- Usability and acceptability across different health delivery settings
- Integration with existing immunization workflows
- Training and task-shifting needs for frontline healthcare workers
- Distribution and storage feasibility in low-resource environments
- Potential use of biometric-supported tools for patient identification and vaccine continuity
- The role of mobile vans in outreach, education, and last-mile delivery logistics
This initiative also aligns with Nigeria’s National Vaccine Policy (2021), which emphasizes innovation, equitable access, local manufacturing capacity, and long-term vaccine self-sufficiency.
Policy-Aligned Innovation
Aligning with Nigeria’s Vaccine Policy 2021; advancing innovation, equity, and self-sufficiency.
This pilot supports the goals of Nigeria’s Vaccine Policy (2021), which encourages innovative, locally driven approaches to strengthen vaccine delivery and reduce long-term dependence on imports. The policy highlights the importance of local vaccine production and ownership, research and development capacity, innovative health technologies, public-private collaboration, sustainable delivery systems and equitable access.
As Nigeria works toward greater ownership of its vaccine supply chain, feasibility initiatives like this can help inform scalable and locally relevant delivery models for the future.
Who Can Join
We’re currently building our pilot site network across:
- Lagos
- Abuja
- Adamawa State
- Anambra State
We welcome interest from immunization coordinators and public health teams, community health clinics, private hospitals and pharmacies, and outreach providers.
Why It Matters
Today’s vaccine delivery systems face growing challenges. From cold-chain limitations and workforce shortages to high operational costs and needle hesitancy, traditional delivery models can struggle to reach underserved populations effectively.
MAPs offer a promising opportunity to simplify vaccine delivery, but real-world insight from frontline providers and communities is essential to understanding how these systems can work at scale.
Your participation can help shape a scalable, data-informed approach that brings vaccines closer to the communities that need them most.
Join the MAP Pilot Study
From patches to biometrics and mobile outreach systems, this initiative represents an early step toward smarter, more equitable vaccine delivery, and we’re looking for mission-aligned contributors ready to help shape what comes next.
Join the PilotJoin the pilot or reach us at: pilotstudy@lunavax.com. Together, we can reimagine how vaccines are delivered—from lab to last mile.
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