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Most vaccines require refrigeration to keep from going bad. The messenger RNA vaccines for COVID-19 require freezing temperatures. RONNY HARTMANN/AFP via Getty Images
Here’s how scientists are designing vaccines that can ditch the fridge
Apr. 21, 2021 , 3:30 PM
From the cutting-edge vaccines for COVID-19 to the decades-old ones for poliovirus, most vaccines need to be kept cold to survive the trip from factory to patient. But that poses a major hurdle to even routine immunizations in countries like Mali or Bangladesh, where up to 90% of health facilities lack adequate refrigeration. To solve this problem, some researchers are working toward a radical goal: vaccine formulations that don’t have to be kept cold. Significant hurdles remain, but many scientists are optimistic that 10 years from now vaccination campaigns won’t be quite so hampered by the heat.
Irish Professor Makes Unfounded Claims About Long-Term Effects of mRNA Vaccines factcheck.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from factcheck.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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Dr. Peter Hotez, co-director of the Texas Children s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, joins Ali Velshi to discuss the pause on the Johnson & Johnson vaccine in the United States after the discovery of 6 rare cases of blood clotting in women who were immunized with the shot. The goal, says Hotez, is to identify a specific group who might be at higher risk, and that requires a little time. “Even though the U.S. Has other options, many countries don t. For many countries, all they have are the J & J, AstraZeneca vaccine and the Russian Sputnik V vaccine,” all of which are non-mNRA and have the potential to behave similarly. Says Hotez, “It is critical to sort this out not only to protect American citizens, but to protect the world.”April 17, 2021
Dr Peter Hotez: The FDA and CDC really had no choice but to pause Johnson & Johnson vaccine msn.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from msn.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
(AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
It might be time to ease off listening to some of the doctors and scientists making a name for themselves during the coronavirus pandemic. There is a really good example in the news this weekend. Dr. Peter Hotez in Houston, a darling of local and national news outlets, has some hot takes when it comes to COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine skepticism.
Dr. Hotez has an impressive resume which includes being “founding dean of the National School of Tropical Medicine, Professor of Pediatrics and Molecular Virology & Microbiology at Baylor College of Medicine, where he is also Director of the Texas Children’s Hospital Center for Vaccine Development and Texas Children’s Hospital Endowed Chair in Tropical Pediatrics, and University Professor of Biology at Baylor University.” He and his team have developed a COVID-19 vaccine that is set to be manufactured in India. So, he is frequently a guest on cable news shows to deliver his comments about the pandemic