Tito’s Handmade Vodka is contributing a total of $3.9 million to coronavirus research with three donations that help fund projects necessary to combat COVID-19.
Its largest donation is a 2-year grant of $2.5 million to The University of Texas COVID-19 Modeling Consortium, which will help map the spread of the virus and improve preparedness for future pandemic threats.
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According to Tito’s, pandemic modeling is designed to provide information to reduce the burden on the healthcare system and improve the well-being of the population. It also works to inform community efforts to help reintroduce people back into their daily lives.
Tito’s has also donated a grant of $1 million to the Baylor College of Medicine for vaccine research.
The grant enables doctors at the Baylor College of Medicine and their teams to resume research on the potential vaccine for COVID-19, which was put on hold due to a funding cut.
According to Tito’s, it is the research team’s ultimate goal to not only introduce a COVID-19 vaccine suitable and accessible worldwide, but also one that may fight future outbreaks.
Lastly, Tito’s is funding $400,000 to help produce 500 ventilators for immediate use in Central Texas through a collaboration between The University of Texas Cockrell School of Engineering, Dell Medical School, and the Texas Health Catalyst program.
According to Tito’s, the ventilators are constructed using inexpensive and widely available parts, such as windshield wiper motors from a car; and can be produced at one-tenth the cost of a traditional model.
By creating accessible and cost-effective ventilators, facilities nationwide will be able to replicate the model as needed in order to build more of the limited, and highly-demanded machine.