Zaurez Khan M.D.
It’s true that there is vaccine inequity in the world. The rich countries have access to mRNA vaccines like Pfizer and Moderna but what about the rest of the world?
We have had a solution for quite sometime but unfortunately this game changing vaccine did not get the attention it deserved. I’m talking about Corbevax. This is one of the cheapest and effective vaccines out there.
Wondering how come you didn’t hear about it? Probably because it doesn’t involve big Pharmaceutical giants. This was developed by scientists at Baylor Houston, Texas with the intention of ‘an affordable vaccine for all’. They prepared a vaccine for the SARS outbreak in 2003 as well. Based on the same technology, they redesigned a Covid-19 vaccine.
Another US based company Novavax has developed a similar vaccine.
It will be available under the trade name Nuvaxovid in Europe and Covovax in India.
How does they work?
In Corbevax, the desired Covid-19 spike protein gene is inserted into yeast which produces the protein. The spike protein is then injected into the body to produce antibodies. In contrast, in an mRNA vaccine like Pfizer and moderna, the mRNA is introduced into the body and the spike protein is produced by the body.
Novavax uses recombinant nanoparticle technology. The spike protein gene is inserted baculovirus, which then infects sf9 insect cells. The sf9 cells then produce the spike proteins. These spike proteins are purified as nanoparticles and then introduced into the body. The body then produces antibodies against these spike proteins.
The good news is that the recombinant technology can be scaled up, making it easy to provide at a global scale.
This is the same technology as hepatitis B vaccine.
So if you are still hesitant about mRNA vaccines, this is your vaccine!
What age? 18years and up.
Safe for pregnancy? Yes
How is it stored? 2- 8 degrees Celsius. That means that it can be stored in a regular refrigerator. Therefore, easy to transport.
Dosage: 2 doses (0.5ml intramuscular) 3-4 weeks apart.
The phase 3 clinical trial for Corbevax was conducted on over 3000 participants showing over 90% efficacy against the original Covid-19 virus.(source: texaschildrens.org, published study pending)
For Novavax, the phase 3 clinical trial was conducted in over 15000 participants .
Efficacy: ~90% effective against original Covid-19 virus. The phase 3 clinical trial data (published in NEJM) is summarized below:
Efficacy against delta variant: 51% (a study by Shinde V et al on 4387 participants)
(N Engl J Med 2021;384:1899-1909).
Side effects: Mostly local reactions like injection site pain/tenderness, systemic adverse effects (fever, headache, body aches). Below is a graphical summary of side effects from the phase 3 clinical trial published in NEJM.
Big question: Is it effective against Omicron?
The trials that were done did not include Omicron…. hmm…. I know …disappointing right. We will have that data soon. It would be best to have prevalent strain specific vaccines. We do know however, based on previous studies, that vaccination prevents severe disease. Even the current vaccines that have lower efficacy against omicron reduce risk of hospitalization.
“Oh I’m waiting for my immune system to make antibodies after getting infected…my natural immunity” … “Sure, but did you know? Over 4 million people(unvaccinated) never got to their ‘natural immunity’ after getting infected because they made it to the grave first.” Look at this recent data from New York and Seattle!
This week in the US, hospitalizations increased over 40% and we are seeing the highest Covid death rate we have seen yet since the start of the pandemic.
Should I say anything further?
Vaccination also helps reduce transmission and emergence of newer variants. I mean aren’t we all just exhausted of these variants!
Whichever vaccine you choose, get vaccinated.
Article by
Dr. Zaurez Khan
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