Millions of doses of a new, cheap coronavirus vaccine will soon be available in India, thanks to the efforts and generosity of Dr. Peter J Hotez, Dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, Texas. Dr Hotez is also the Co-director of the Texas Children’s Center for Vaccine Development (CVD) and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair of Tropical Pedi and his team of researchers have made the new Corbevax inoculation - developed in Texas with decades-old technology and little support from the US government - received emergency use authorization (EUA) last month from India’s drug regulation agency.

India's Biological E Ltd has got EUA to manufacture the vaccine for adolescents between 12 and 18 years, the vaccine-maker said.

Unlike other vaccines in the market, Dr. Hotez and his team “don’t own any intellectual property.” While describing it as the “world’s coronavirus vaccine” Dr. Hotez and colleagues say Corbevax is cheap and stable and could be relatively easy to scale — will be key to addressing global equity gaps. 

“That’s all we know how to do is make durable, low-cost vaccines for global health,” Dr Hotez was quoted as saying in a AAPI release.

“The presence of Dr. Hotez, a University Professor at Baylor University, Fellow in Disease and Poverty at the James A Baker III Institute for Public Policy,  Senior Fellow at the Scowcroft Institute of International Affairs at Texas A&M University, and 'a true friend of India' at the AAPI Convention is a way for us, physicians of Indian origin in America, to honor a legendary and celebrated champion of vaccines, who has developed vaccines for tropical diseases that afflict the world’s poorest people as he has devoted his skills, knowledge and experiences to help the world defeat COVID-19,” said Dr. Jayesh Shah, past president of AAPI and chair of the 40th Convention in 2022.

“AAPI is planning a historic convention in San Antonio (June 23-26) to celebrate 40 years of AAPI (American Association of Physicians of Indian Origin) that coincides with 75 years of India’s independence,” said Venky Adivi, Chief Executive Officer of the convention.

Dr. Hotez has authored more than 600 original papers and is the author of five single-author books, and has served previously as president of the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.  An ardent champion of vaccines, going up against a growing national antivax threat, in 2019 he received the Award for Leadership in Advocacy for Vaccines from the American Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.  

(SAM)