Watch how the US military did mass vaccinations using jet injectors

Jet injectors fell from favour after their use was related to the spread of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C.

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When one thinks of vaccinations, one always imagines needles. However, up until a few decades ago another popular method of mass vaccination was jet injectors that required no needles.

As explained in the Denver Post, “A jet injector uses high pressure to force a vaccine or other medication through a person’s skin.” It was the speed of the jet injectors that allowed authorities to vaccinate a large number of people in a short period of time, hence they were most widely used in schools and during military enlistments in the USA.

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However, jet injectors fell from favour in the 1990s after their use was related to the outbreak of Hepatitis B and Hepatitis C. Now single-use needles are considered a safer method of vaccination or administering mass medication.

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Recently, a video of jet injectors being used for vaccinating people is going viral after it was shared on Twitter by a popular account Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) on Saturday.

The US military used compressed air to deliver vaccines through the skin without a needle from the 1960s until the 1990s pic.twitter.com/0ksFWUI7ih

— Fifty Shades of Whey (@davenewworld_2) December 16, 2022

The undated black and white clip was captioned, “The US military used compressed air to deliver vaccines through the skin without a needle from the 1960s until the 1990s”. The clip garnered over 2.8 lakh views.

Commenting on it, a Twitter user wrote, “I don’t remember it being more painful than a syringe and it’s far more efficient (both in terms of time and waste). You can’t flinch or move at all, though, or it’ll cut you (or give you a half-injected blister). It helped to kinda lean into it (which I did the second time).”

Another person recalled, “Fully remember these as a military dependent child and later when I served. Never had a scar from them but it was more traumatic than a needle”.