Designed using traditional approach, Novavax vaccine gets review by FDA advisory panel on Tuesday.
With three COVID vaccines already authorized by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Americans have easy access to plenty of shots.
“I’m likely going to recommend this for my parents, who are age 84 and 87, for their fifth dose this fall,” said UC San Francisco infectious disease specialist Dr. Monica Gandhi. On Tuesday, the vaccine must pass a critical milestone when a panel of outside experts will recommend — or reject — that the FDA authorize the vaccine. Data show that Novavax is 96% effective in preventing severe disease or death and 90% protective against infection, comparable to Moderna and Pfizer.
About 40% of people reported fatigue after a second dose of Novavax, compared with 65% for Moderna and more than 55% percent for Pfizer. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for a long time,” said Heather Schmidt, of Ventura, who is severely allergic to an ingredient in the available vaccines, so is unprotected. “This has been an incredibly stressful couple of years, and I really felt abandoned. I do not understand why every other country has more options than Americans.”