FDA Authorizes Novavax’s Two-Dose COVID Vaccine

CNBC reports:

The Food and Drug Administration has authorized Novavax’s two-dose vaccine for adults ages 18 and over, the fourth Covid shot to get emergency approval in the U.S. since the pandemic began.

The FDA decision comes weeks after its committee of independent vaccine experts voted overwhelming in favor of Novavax’s shot in early June, after an all-day public meeting in which they weighed data on the vaccine’s safety and its effectiveness at preventing illness from Covid.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still needs to sign off on Novavax’s vaccine before pharmacies and other health-care providers can start administering shots.

The Washington Post reports:

The Novavax vaccine is called a subunit vaccine because it uses a portion of a virus to activate the immune system.

Scientists grow coronavirus spike proteins in the cells of fall armyworm moths inside giant bioreactors. (Insect cells are particularly good at making complex proteins such as those that make up the spikes.)

They mix in a detergent to create a spike-covered soap bubble that looks like the coronavirus. They also add an ingredient called an adjuvant that revs up the immune system so it will respond more forcefully.

FDA authorizes Novavax Covid vaccine for adults as the first new shots in U.S. in more than a year https://t.co/AKv2G6lC5w

— CNBC (@CNBC) July 13, 2022