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As of July 19, 2022, health officials advised that adults in the U.S. who have yet to be vaccinated against COVID-19 consider getting the Novavax non-MRNA vaccine, a more traditional type of vaccine. Regulators authorized the vaccine, the first non-protein-based one against COVID-19 the previous week, but the final thing to happen was an endorsement from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (commonly known as the CDC).
Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the CDC’s director, issued a statement saying that Americans who were waiting to get a vaccine made from a type of technology than what is currently available can now join millions of Americans who have gotten vaccinated by getting this type of protection.
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While CDC advisors are unsure if new technology will persuade this group from getting vaccinated, health officials are excited about having this option available to adults going forward. The Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer and Moderna vaccines fight COVID by recognizing the spike protein, the coating of the virus. Instructions are delivered to the body to make copies of the protein, in the case of Pfizer and Moderna, while the Johnson & Johnson vaccine does that via a cold virus.
In contrast, the Novavax injects copies of the spike protein that were created in a lab into one’s system, and the body reacts to it like a virus. Large-scale studies done in Mexico, Britain and the U.S. found that two doses of the Novavax vaccine were 90% effective in mitigating symptomatic COVID-19. Last summer, a booster dose was found effective in revving up antibodies against variants.
Side effects are on the milder side, although heart inflammation, a rare risk, has been found mostly in teen boys and men.
A two-dose series is recommended, with the second dose given three weeks after the initial one. Since production delays slowed down the Novavax vaccine’s rollout, its effectiveness against the latest variants is still being tested, but experts are confident to endorse it.
The Maryland-based company is working on a booster, and hopes in the health community are high about it being approved within the next five months, so people who need it can get it in time for it to be most effective. Use in teens is also being explored.
The U.S., along with several companies, have already ordered shipments of the vaccine for adults to get shortly. Like other manufacturers, Novavax is continuing to test the vaccine’s effectiveness against new variants and strains of COVID-19 to offer the most helpful product to people to take charge of their health—and COVID as a whole.
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