The CORBEVAX Vaccine: Changing the Trajectory of the Pandemic
- Brenda Solache
- Apr 3, 2022
- 2 min read
As of March 23rd, 2022, there have been over 435 million cases of COVID and more than six million deaths worldwide (“Global COVID-19 Tracker”). The vaccine was first made available in December of 2020, and since then, approximately 60% of the world’s population has received at least one dose (Ferrano, 2022). Despite this statistic including over half of the global population, the United Nations still expresses a concern regarding “vaccine nationalism,” describing wealthy countries hoarding vaccines to inoculate their citizens first. This is especially concerning given that the cost of COVID vaccines alone poses a significant financial burden to low-income countries (“COVID vaccines”). Vaccine nationalism coupled with the cost of distribution creates an inequity that prevents low-income countries from reaching their target vaccination rates. However, the recently developed CORBEVAX vaccine could be the solution to this problem.
The CORBEVAX vaccine was developed by Drs. Maria Elena Bottazzi and Peter Hotez, co-directors of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at Baylor College of Medicine. This vaccine differs from Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson in how it helps the immune system mount a defense against the virus. The technology used to develop it resembles a previously-made vaccine these researchers invented during the 2003 SARS outbreak. At the start of the pandemic in 2019, they re-engineered it to tackle COVID. Clinical trials have revealed that CORBEVAX is 90% effective against the original COVID strain and 80% effective against the delta variant (Ferrano, 2022).
Most importantly, according to Botazzi, they do not plan to patent it, uninterested in either recognition or financial recompense, meaning that any country that has the capability to replicate the vaccine can do so (Ferrano, 2022; Salam, 2022). Additionally, unlike Pfizer, the storage for CORBEVAX is not at all complicated – it merely needs standard refrigeration – and the technology used to manufacture it is relatively simple. In short, CORBEVAX is an inexpensive and widely available alternative to other patented vaccines (Salam, 2022).
The truth of the matter is that boosters are not the solution to the pandemic. Neither is first-world greed, where first-world countries are putting profits before public health. Our only hope of not increasing the global death rate is to vaccinate as many people as possible worldwide. Otherwise, variants will continue to arise. CORBEVAX is an important first step in addressing vaccine inequities that are costing people their lives.
References
COVID vaccines: Widening inequality and millions vulnerable | | UN News. (n.d.).
Global COVID-19 Tracker – Updated as of March 23. KFF.
Ferran, M. (2022, March 13). CORBEVAX, a new patent-free COVID-19 vaccine,
could be a pandemic game changer globally. The Conversation.
Salam, E. (2022, January 15). Texas scientists' new Covid-19 vaccine is cheaper,
easier to make and patent-free. The Guardian.
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