The covid-19 epidemic is still going strong despite some important medical advances this year, and even more so in poorer countries with low vaccination rates. There is hope on the horizon. Cheap, easily stored, and effective covid-19 vaccines are set to be mass-produced and distributed around the world soon enough. One promising vaccine developed by Texas researchers was just authorized in India this week.
The Corbevax vaccine was granted an emergency use authorization by the Indian health regulators on Tuesday. The vaccine was further developed and tested in partnership with the Indian pharmaceutical company Biological E, which will handle the local production of the vaccine. Estimates show that Corbevax is more than 80% effective against the Delta variant of the coronaviruses, as well as more than 90% effective against the original form.
This is the only way to prevent future variants from emerging.
The researchers claim their creation is the world's covid-19 vaccine. The underlying technology used in the vaccine is a piece of the coronaviruses spike, which has been grown from yeast cells. It can be scaled up even in countries with limited resources. It can be stored in standard fridges, which will allow for more widespread transportation and use than the special fridges used for the mRNA vaccines.
The vaccine technology was developed without patents, and the researchers plan to share their blueprints and/or co-develop the vaccine with any willing manufacturers and countries for no added financial gain. A single dose is estimated to cost about $1.50. Pfizer and Moderna recently signed deals in Europe that charged around $25 per dose.
According to reports, Biological E has already produced 150 million doses of Corbevax and should be able to produce 100 million a month. The team shared its technology with manufacturers in several countries.
The vaccine development program brings together scientists from many different walks of life. Maria Elena Bottazzi, one of the vaccine's lead developers and co-director of the Texas Children's Hospital Center for Vaccine Development, told Gizmodo that they are privileged to be able to gift all their know-how and bring this vaccine to many in India and around the
The World Health Organization has been working to provide vaccines on the cheap to low and middle-income countries. COVAX has fallen far below expectations, having obtained and distributed less than half of the 2 billion doses it intended to procure by the end of the year. The U.S. pledged earlier this year that it supported waiving patents for existing vaccines like those developed by Pfizer and Moderna, which is likely an important step for broadening the distribution of these newer, more expensive, and more complex vaccines. Talks to negotiate these waivers have stopped completely, and the U.S. has done little to actually push for them. Less than half of the world's population are fully vaccine-vaccinated, and this disparity is even worse in poorer countries.
The vaccine was stifled by a lack of resources early on, with the team having failed to secure funding through the Operation Warp Speed initiative implemented last year in the U.S. to accelerate vaccine development. They were able to get funding through charity, but it slowed their time. Peter Hotez, co-developer and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor, believes that the lack of focus on providing a vaccine for all has had serious consequences.
Hotez told Gizmodo that it was exciting to be able to make a difference. This is the only way to prevent future variants from emerging. If we had the funds to do this sooner, Southern Africa might have beenvaccinated and Omicron might not have arisen.
There are still important questions to be answered. It is not yet known how effective it will be against the Omicron variant, which has begun to overtake Delta as the dominant version of the virus. Omicron is concerning because of its many mutations, which allow it to more easily cause harm, and because of the fact that this immunity appears to still blunt its severity. There is data suggesting that Cobrevax may be better at providing durable protection than some other vaccines, and the team plans to have data on Omicron soon. It is possible that Cobrevax could be used as a booster to other vaccines, and there have been studies showing that booster shots can restore some protection against Omicron infections.
There are other vaccines that could become a boon to poorer countries. Mexico became the latest country to approve the three-dose vaccine created by Cuba. Clinical trials have shown that the Cuban vaccine, Soberna-02, is effective against illness, and is similar to the one developed by Abdala. Cuba's covid-19 cases have plummeted as the vaccine rate has soared to over 90% with at least one dose. The country is waiting for the WHO to approve its covid-19 vaccines, which will likely be needed to get widespread use outside of the country. Cuba will spread its technology to the rest of the world if that happens.
