Vegetarian? This might be the right vaccine for you

The vaccine is made by the Canadian-based bio tech company called Medicago, which also has a processing facility in Research Triangle Park. Unlike the current vaccines on the market, this one is made from plants.

"It’s basically been a tsunami of patients and clinical trials," says Dr. Matthew Hong, principal researcher for Wake Research here in Raleigh. He says the last 12 months have been crazy with the testing and eventual approval of three coronavirus vaccines. Now, Wake Research is getting ready to put the Medicago vaccine to the test.

As an undergraduate, Hong was a history major. As a medical student, he studied the technology being used to make coronavirus vaccines. Now he’s putting that technology into people’s arms. Hong sees the irony in the coming together of his education, "You really feel like you’re on the front line of history," he says.

For the next six months or so, Hong and his colleagues will be tracking the progress of trial participants with the Medicago vaccine. His selling point to encourage people to take part is simple. "My little catchphrase is: 'If you’re a vegetarian, this is the vaccine for you,'" he said.

To make the vaccine, Medicago injects the genetic sequence of the virus into Nicotiana Benthamiana, an Australian weed and relative of the tobacco plant. Through a purification process, a spike protein is extracted for the vaccine, which teaches your body to fight. A chemical booster from GlaxoSmithKline is added, and the results are promising.

And it’s that booster that could make this vaccine the one to really end the pandemic. According to Hong, "The theory is with this enhanced response of the immune system you’ll also have longer term, effective longer term immunity."

Hong’s main concern is recruiting 30,000 people nationally to take part in a trial. Will participants take the risk of receiving a placebo during the trial, instead of signing up for available vaccines?

Still, all are served by more vaccines available to help fight the virus now and in the future. While we’re headed in the right direction, Hong says there’s still a long way to go. "It’s still pretty early in the game. The longest anybody’s been vaccinated against coronavirus is about 10 months," he pointed out.