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These Houston doctors have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize

Dr. Peter Hotez and Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi, both Houston vaccine doctors, were nominated by Congresswoman Lizzie Fletcher for a Nobel Peace Prize.

HOUSTON — Two Houston doctors, including one that has been the face of the COVID-19 epidemic, have been nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize.

Dr. Peter Hotez, who has spent countless hours doing interviews to help guide the country through the pandemic, was nominated by Congresswoman Lizzie Flecther along with Dr. Maria Elena Bottazzi.

Both are Deans of the National School of Tropical Medicine at Baylor College of Medicine and Co-Directors of the Center for Vaccine Development at Texas Children’s Hospital.

The nomination is for their work on developing and distributing a low-cost COVID-19 vaccine to people of the world without patent limitation.

“Dr. Hotez and Dr. Bottazzi’s effort to develop the CORBEVAX vaccine is truly one of international cooperation and partnership to bring health, security, and peace around the world by creating a COVID-19 vaccine and making it available and accessible to all. It is a contribution that is of the greatest benefit to humankind," said Fletcher.  

RELATED: Vaccine developed in Houston could help the world fight COVID

Hotez said he is honored to be nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize and said it has always been his and Dr. Bottazzi's mission to develop a vaccine for underserved communities. 

“Dr. Bottazzi and I have worked together for years, and our purpose has never changed – to bring attention to the neglected diseases of poverty and build a new generation of vaccine in the pursuit of global vaccine diplomacy," Hotez said. "With our COVID vaccine, which is inexpensive and easy to produce, our intent was to make it available to millions of people in the world who would otherwise not have access to COVID vaccines.”  

"We have a team of scientists that have worked diligently for years to bring appropriate and affordable health technologies to those who have been overlooked around the world," said Dr. Bottazzi. "When the COVID pandemic hit, we wanted to make a difference and had great confidence our coronavirus vaccine technology, previously developed, could lead to a global solution. Hopefully, it will be game-changing for many countries.”  

The CORBEVAX vaccine, which was developed in Houston, was given emergency use authorization from the Drugs Controller General of India in December 2021. Its first rollout was in India and is expected to be made available in other underserved countries after that.

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