CDC recommends Novavax for teens: What you need to know about the latest COVID vaccine

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Monday recommended Novavax as the main line of the COVID-19 vaccine for children and teens up to age 12. The decision to allow Novavax to be given to adolescents aged 12 to 17 years follows an expanded approval by the US Food and Drug Administration to make Novavax available to a younger group.

Last month, the FDA and CDC written off on the two-dose Novavax primary series vaccine for adults.

Because it is only authorized as a primary series and not as a booster, the new vaccine cannot yet be used as a booster in people who have already been vaccinated. And while Novavax’s initial impact may be limited because of this, its availability will give those who have been holding out for a protein-based or more “traditional” vaccine another option. Types of vaccines like Novavax have been around for more than 30 years, according to the CDC, and are used against shingles, flu, and more.

More than two years after the start of the pandemic, the number of people who are fully vaccinated hasn’t changed much in recent weeks or months, and those who are hesitant about vaccination appear to be holding firm, according to a Kaiser Family survey Foundation. The percentage of American adults who responded to the survey and said they would “definitely not get a COVID-19 vaccine” ranged from 15% in December 2020 to 17% in April 2022.

In addition to Novavax, there are three other licensed or recommended COVID-19 vaccines on the U.S. market, and two of them are still widely recommended for adults. Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine is still licensed in the US, but its use is permitted limited because of a rare but serious risk of blood clots. That leaves the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines as the other two currently recommended options for adults.

“It’s good to have a vaccine on board like Novavax because it’s another option for those who may have contraindications to the other vaccine platforms,” ​​Ross Kedle, professor of immunology and microbiology at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, said in an email . “Some have allergic reactions or rarer problems like blood clots.”

Novavax has been a long time coming. The company had a contract with the federal government through Operation Warp Speed, but had manufacturing problems that prevented a quick emergency use permit. Its COVID vaccine is now available in other countries, including Canada and Australia, under the name Nuvaxovid.

Here’s everything we know.

When can I get a Novavax injection?

You should be able to see places that have Novavax in stock on the government’s vaccine finder website. To find a dose near you, select Novavax from the list and enter your zip code. (It currently says it’s available to adults 18 and over, but that should change soon to include older kids and teens.)

Who can get Novavax?

Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine is for people 12 years of age and older who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine. It is approved as a primary series of two doses, with each dose usually given three weeks apart. (But you can get the second dose up to eight weeks after the first, according to the CDC.)

Because it is authorized as a primary series, people who have already been vaccinated cannot receive it as an additional vaccine or booster at this time. But since the FDA has allowed a mixing and matching approach with other COVID-19 vaccines in the past, Novavax’s approval may be expanded to more people in the future.

As is the case with any drug or vaccine, people with allergies to an ingredient in Novavax should not take it, Kristen Nichols, a pharmacist and senior content management consultant at Wolters Kluwer, said in an email.

Although the main line of Novavax is the only one allowed now, it’s possible that Novavax may have a new omicron-specific booster ready this fall or winter. After the FDA announced its plans to autumn distribution of vaccine, Novavax said it is accelerating work on an omicron-specific vaccine that targets the super-contagious BA.5. But like the other new, future vaccine, the FDA will have to authorize this separately.

What is Novavax? How is it different?

Novavax is a vaccine against COVID-19 that uses a more traditional protein-based technology, unlike other vaccines currently available in the US. Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna use mRNA technology, and Johnson & Johnson is a viral vector vaccine.

In the Novavax vaccine, purified virus protein is mixed with what’s called an adjuvant — additives that “wake up the immune response and tell it to take this goal seriously,” Kedle said.

Dr. Glen Wortman, an infectious disease specialist at MedStar Health, said the general approach of most vaccines is to use a protein base.

“Specifically, Novavax is very similar to the hepatitis B vaccine” that most of us get as children, Wortman said. Some vaccines against flu, shingles and other diseases use similar technology.

Although it offers another option, however, the jury may be out on whether Novavax offers superior immunity to Pfizer’s and Moderna’s vaccines.

“From an immunological standpoint, in my opinion, it really doesn’t bring much on its own to the table that isn’t already well addressed by mRNA vaccines,” Kedle said.

However, it is easier to store and transport than mRNA vaccines, he said. This may be an advantage when vaccinating harder-to-reach communities where keeping fine vaccines cool in the refrigerator may be difficult. But Novavax has serious drawbacks when it comes to manufacturing, Kedle said, because it’s not cheap for the company to produce and purify the proteins.

“MRNA vaccines skip this step because they make each individual their own vaccine producer,” he said. They work by teaching our cells to make the protein themselves that will trigger an immune response.

For that reason, mRNA vaccines are easier to adjust than Novavax when a new variant emerges, Kedle said.

“The mRNA platform is much more modifiable than what Novavax does,” he said. “Every time a new variant of a vaccine needs to be made, Novavax will have to do a lot of work in the lab to figure out which changes will still allow a good protein to be made and purified in mass quantities.”

How effective is Novavax?

Published study results found Novavax to be more than 90% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% effective against severe disease and death. But importantly, this trial was conducted before the omicron or delta variants were widely available. Both the delta and omicron variants—including the omicron BA.5 subvariant—are more infectious and avoid some immunity from vaccines and previous infection.

No real-world data yet exist comparing the effectiveness of Novavax to other vaccines. According to the World Health Organization, “It is impossible to compare the vaccines directly because of the different approaches used in the design of the respective studies.”

What are the side effects of Novavax?

Like other vaccines, side effects after receiving the Novavax vaccine are usually mild, common, and occur within seven days of receiving the vaccine, according to the CDC. Examples of this are fatigue, high fever, chills and headache, which disappear within a few days. These are signs that your immune system is reacting and building a defense.

Myocarditis and pericarditis (inflammation of the heart) are rare side effects of Novavax. Six of approximately 40,000 vaccinees developed heart inflammation in a clinical trial with Novavax, compared with one in the placebo group. Younger males or teenagers are at higher risk of developing myocarditis or pericarditis after vaccination with mRNA vaccine, usually after the 2nd dose. Most who developed heart inflammation felt better quickly.

The information contained in this article is for educational and informational purposes only and is not intended as health or medical advice. Always consult a physician or other qualified health care provider with any questions you may have about a medical condition or health goals.