CNN
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The US Meals and Drug Administration on Friday approved an up to date model of the protein-based Novavax Covid-19 vaccine to be used in folks 12 and up. Doses might be obtainable by the tip of subsequent week.
“The COVID-19 vaccines have had an incredible optimistic affect on public well being and vaccination continues to be the best methodology for COVID-19 prevention,” Dr. Peter Marks, director of the FDA’s Middle for Biologics Analysis and Analysis, stated in a statement. “COVID-19 continues to be a really actual danger for many individuals, and we encourage people to think about getting an up to date COVID-19 vaccine when eligible. Immediately’s authorization offers an extra COVID-19 vaccine choice that meets the FDA’s requirements for security, effectiveness and manufacturing high quality wanted to assist emergency use authorization.”
Novavax’s vaccine is predicated on protein expertise, which takes longer to fabricate than mRNA vaccines like these made by Pfizer and BioNTech and Moderna. Protein-based vaccines work by getting the physique’s immune system to acknowledge small modified items of the virus it’s concentrating on. On this case, meaning items of the coronavirus spike protein.
The US Facilities for Illness Management and Prevention recommended in June that everybody over 6 months outdated obtain each an up to date Covid-19 vaccine and a flu shot this yr.
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The FDA greenlit up to date mRNA-based Moderna and Pfizer photographs final week. These vaccines goal the KP.2 pressure of the coronavirus, an offshoot of JN.1, which is the goal of Novavax’s protein-based photographs. The KP.3.1.1 pressure, which can also be an offshoot of JN.1, is the prevalent model within the US now, in keeping with CDC data.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines are already obtainable in some pharmacies. Novavax stated its vaccine “shall be obtainable in hundreds of areas throughout the nation, together with retailers, regional grocers, and unbiased pharmacies.”
Ranges of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19, measured in wastewater are at “very excessive” ranges nationally, in keeping with CDC data, sparking the very best summer season peak within the US since July 2022. Monitoring of viral ranges in wastewater may give an image of how widespread the virus is as testing and different types of monitoring have fallen off.
CNN’s Jamie Gumbrecht and Meg Tirrell contributed to this report.