Both IDRI and Texas Children’s researchers say they’ve got candidates that are more scalable than the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna, and which don’t require the same cold storage.

Casper said IDRI’s technology, which is set to begin phase 1/2 clinical trials soon, could be even more durable against COVID and its future variants. And it could scale up to 1 billion doses within six months — and even faster with government assistance. But so far, they’ve gotten none, Casper said.

Peter Hotez, a vaccine researcher at the Baylor College of Medicine who helped develop the Texas COVID-19 vaccine candidate, shared his frustrations.

“[Our vaccine] checks every global health box there is,” Hotez said. “It’s trusted and it works. And yet, everyone’s focused on the shiny new toys.”