COVID-19 vaccine developed by Texas-based research center receives authorization for use in India

A COVID-19 vaccine developed by researchers at the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development at the Baylor College of Medicine has been authorized for use in India.

The vaccine, which the Houston-based research center dubbed “the world’s COVID-19 vaccine,” was designed to be a lower-cost alternative to the COVID-19 shots that are currently available, according to the research center. Biological E. Limited, an Indian pharmaceutical company, was also involved in the development of the vaccine.

Unlike vaccines from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna that use newer mRNA technology, researchers at the center used traditional protein-based technology to develop this vaccine — meaning that it can be produced at a larger scale.

Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi, co-director of the center, said protein-based vaccines have a history of effectively and safely preventing other diseases.

“Our decade-long studies advancing coronavirus vaccine prototypes has led to the creation of this vaccine, which will fill the access gap created by the more expensive, newer vaccine technologies and that today are still not able to be quickly scaled for global production,” Bottazzi said in a written statement.

Dr. Peter Hotez, also a co-director of the center, said the new vaccine is an “important first step in vaccinating the world.”

“Widespread and global vaccination with our Texas Children’s-Baylor-BE vaccine would also forestall the emergence of new variants,” Hotez said in a written statement. “We have previously missed that opportunity for the alpha and delta variant. Now is our chance to prevent a new global wave from what might follow.”

The emergency-use authorization for the vaccine was granted by the drugs controller general of India, the head of the nation’s agency responsible for licensing medical treatments. Reuters reported that the Indian agency on Tuesday also authorized the use of a vaccine developed by Novavax and the Serum Institute of India, along with other COVID-19 treatments, in light of the rapidly spreading omicron variant.

The delta variant of the coronavirus swept across India earlier this year, leading COVID-19 cases and deaths to spike for several months. Multiple North Texans of South Asian descent organized efforts to send aid to the country in response to the humanitarian crisis posed by the virus.

As of Tuesday, India has reported 34,799,691 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 480,290 coronavirus-related deaths, according to the World Health Organization.

About 42% of India’s population is estimated to be fully vaccinated against COVID-19, according to The New York Times’ coronavirus tracker, and about 61% have gotten at least one dose of a vaccine.