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The US Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the protein-based Novax Covid-19 vaccine for use in people 12 and older. Quantities will be available by the end of next week.
“Covid-19 vaccines have had a positive impact on public health, and vaccination remains the most effective method of preventing Covid-19,” said Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. press release. “Covid-19 continues to be a very real threat to many people, and we encourage individuals to consider the updated Covid-19 vaccine when eligible. Today's approval provides an additional COVID-19 vaccine option that meets FDA requirements for safety, efficacy, and manufacturing quality needed to support emergency use approval.
The Novavax vaccine is based on protein technology, which takes longer than the mRNA vaccine developed by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. Protein-based vaccines work by making the immune system recognize small, modified fragments of the virus it is targeting. In this case, this means fragments of the coronavirus spindle protein.
US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Recommended Everyone who is over 6 months old in June will get both an updated Covid-19 vaccine and a flu shot this year.
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The FDA greenlighted Moderna and Pfizer's MRNA-based photos last week. Those vaccines target the KP.2 strain of the coronavirus, the JN.1 branch that is the target of the Novax protein-based vaccines. The KP.3.1.1 strain, which is a branch of JN.1, is now widespread in the US, according to the CDC. Data.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are already available in some pharmacies. Novavax said the vaccine is “available in thousands of locations across the country, including retailers, regional grocers and independent pharmacies.”
Levels of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes Covid-19 are measured Waste water According to the CDC, they are at “very high” levels nationally DataIt marked the highest summer peak in the US since July 2022. Tracking the amount of virus in wastewater can provide a picture of how widespread the virus has become, as testing and other forms of monitoring have been lost.
's Jamie Gumbrecht and Meg Tyrrell contributed to this report.