Novavax Covid-19 vaccine gets greenlight for use in EU market

Brussels, Dec. 20 (BNA): The European Commission has granted a conditional market license to the Covid-19 vaccine developed by US manufacturer Novavax, President Ursula von der Leyen announced on Monday.

The German news agency (dpa) said Novavax is the fifth vaccine approved for use in the European Union, following a decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) following a special meeting on Monday in Amsterdam.

The Maryland-based manufacturer applied for a license in the European Union in November.

The European Union’s largest drug agency said the vaccine meets EMA’s standards for efficacy, safety and quality.

The vaccine is designed to be taken in two doses, about three weeks apart, and has been shown to be nearly 90 percent effective against Covid-19.

It is not clear how strong its protection against the Omicron variant, which is currently spreading worldwide, is.

Unlike the other four doses that are already approved, Novavax is a protein-based vaccine. It contains small particles consisting of a lab-produced version of the spiky protein of Sars-CoV-2, the virus that causes Covid-19 disease.

Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna are messenger RNA vaccines while AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson are vectors.

This difference may help convince some vaccine skeptics who do not wish to take the vaccines currently offered in the European Union.

In August, the European Commission signed a contract with Novavax to deliver 100 million doses of the vaccine starting in the first quarter of 2022.

The Commission said in a press release that EU member states also have the option to purchase an additional 100 million doses during 2022 and 2023.

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