Novavax COVID-19 vaccine approved in Britain

The two-dose coronavirus vaccine by Novavax has been approved in Great Britain on February 3, 2022. After the approval the new COVID-19 vaccine can be used for adults and will make it the fifth coronavirus vaccine that has been approved in the country. The fresh vaccine approval has come as the world continues to deal with the fresh surges and variants of coronavirus. The UK is currently facing a fresh surge in the number of coronavirus cases of the omicron variant.

The vaccine, Nuvaxovid has been approved for use in adults aged 18 years and older. It managed to meet the quality, safety and effectiveness standards at the UK’s Medicine and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency also known as MHRA. The approval from the British authorities comes days after the pharma giant had filed for an authorization in the United States. The company had struggled with its development and manufacturing for many months. It had also faced a delay in an approval in Europe.

Silvia Taylor, the head of corporate affairs at Novavax in a briefing said that the first shots will be made by the Serum Institute of India but will not be shipping until March, 2022. No details were given about the volume. In 2020, the British authorities and Novavax had joined hands to supply nearly 60 million of doses of the vaccine and had also agreed towards late-stage trials for the vaccine in the country. It was in the month of January, when the company had started to ship the vaccines in the United States and 27 million were expected to arrive during the first quarter and 42 million in the second.

In June last year, the vaccine was found to be 90 percent effective in the trials conducted in the United States against a number of variants that included the delta variant. Some data released in December 2021 had revealed that it was also effective against the highly contagious omicron variant.

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