An experimental COVID-19 vaccine produced with technology based on a decades-old method, elicited virus-neutralizing antibodies in higher proportion than the amount induced by mRNA immunizations, a Phase 1 clinical trial has found.

The investigational vaccine was developed in New York City and tested in Thailand where the shots were produced using a form of egg-based technology. The fact that researchers are still racing to develop new COVID-19 vaccines highlights an ongoing need, especially in low- and middle-income countries—and for good reason.

A surprising slew of omicron subvariants has emerged since 2021. Last year, omicron spawned a dizzying number of subvariants: BA.5, BQ.1, and BQ.1.1. By January of this year, a new omicron subvariant called XBB.1.5 was sweeping across the United States and beyond.

"A large number of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 have been developed and licensed," asserted Juan Manuel Carreño, writing with a team of researchers in Science Translational Medicine. As a research scientist in the microbiology department at Mount Sinai's Icahn School of Medicine in New York City where the vaccine was developed, Carreño underscored the need for effective and affordable COVID shots in overlooked regions of the world.

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