Oral Vaccines Could Increase COVID-19 Vaccinations

Nearly 19 million more American adults would get vaccinated if they could take a pill instead of getting a shot, according to a poll conducted by Quadrant Strategies and commissioned by Vaxart, Inc.

The survey found that 23% of respondents said they do not plan to get vaccinated, but nearly a third of them said they would if the vaccine were available as a pill instead of by needle injection. Nearly a quarter of respondents said they are afraid of needles.

The results suggest that about half of the additional vaccinated group would be drawn from communities that have disproportionately not been vaccinated. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report only 12% of Hispanics, 9% of Blacks, and 6% of Asians have received vaccines as of April 21, 2021.

“Vaccinating another 19 million American adults may help the US reach herd immunity. The public health and societal implications of an oral Covid-19 vaccine could be both broad and profound,” said Vaxart CEO Andrei Floroiu in a press statement issued on April 22, 2021.

The national survey of 1,500 Americans over 18 was conducted by Washington DC-based Quadrant Strategies between March 17 and 24, 2021.

San Francisco-based Vaxart is a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing a range of oral recombinant vaccines based on its proprietary delivery platform. The VXA-CoV2-1 vaccine candidate induced potent CD8+ T-cell responses that are potentially protective against the original and new and emerging Covid-19 strains.