On Monday, the European Medicines Agency approved Novavax’s corona vaccine. This is how the supposed “dead vaccine” works.
- Many vaccine skeptics place their hopes on the Novavax vaccine.
- On Monday, the World Health Organization (WHO) granted the vaccine NVX-CoV2373 from Novavax the emergency approval (see update from December 20, 1:42 p.m.).
- The European Medicines Agency also cleared the way for approval of the NovavaxVaccine in the EU.
- This ticker is continuously updated.
Update from December 20, 2:09 p.m .: The European Medicines Agency (EMA) recommended the approval of the corona vaccine from the US manufacturer Novavax in the EU on Monday. The EMA announced this on Monday in Amsterdam, as reported by the German press agency. After approval by the EU Commission, this will be the fifth corona vaccine in the EU.
WHO grants Novavax emergency approval
Update from December 20, 1:43 p.m .: The World Health Organization (WHO) approved the vaccine NVX-CoV2372 (Covovax) from Novavax for the active immunization of people aged 18 and over on Monday. This was announced on Monday by the Novavax group and its partner Serum Institute of India, the largest global manufacturer of vaccines.
“Today’s decision by the World Health Organization is crucial to ensure global access to a protein-based COVID-19 vaccine for hundreds of millions of people around the world,” said Novavax chief Stanley C. Erck of the WHO decision. He is convinced that this vaccine will help to overcome the barriers to access to vaccines in many regions of the world, continued Erck. Unlike the other corona vaccines, the Novavax vaccine can be stored in the refrigerator, which makes logistics easier.
The WHO decision relates to Novavax’s Covovax vaccine, which is intended for the Asia-Pacific region. A decision by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) on the approval of Nuvaxovid is expected later in the day. This Novavax vaccine is intended for the European area. Covovax and Nuvaxovid are identical in content.
Questions and answers about the new vaccine: That is why Novavax is not a dead vaccine
First report: Amsterdam – Many vaccine skeptics place their hopes on the supposed “dead vaccine” from Novavax. The European Medicines Agency EMA wants to decide on the approval on Monday (December 20th). But even if the EMA gives its OK, it can still take a while for delivery.
Corona vaccination: dead vaccines compared to mRNA and vector vaccines
Many vaccine skeptics have concerns about mRNA (Biontech and Moderna) or vector vaccines (AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson) and therefore rely on so-called dead vaccines. This technology is much more researched, so the argument goes, and therefore safer. Experts cannot follow this line of argument. On the contrary: In the meantime, over 8 billion corona vaccine doses have been administered worldwide. Never before have vaccines been so well researched as the vaccines now on the market from Biontech, Moderna and Co.
Inactivated vaccines have been used for vaccination against hepatitis B since 1986, but a general assessment of the various vaccine technologies cannot be derived from them. “There has been long experience with certain dead vaccines, such as for hepatitis B, but a comparison is difficult to make. Each vaccine must be viewed and assessed individually, ”said the virologist Prof. Jonas Schmidt-Chanasit der Image.
Corona vaccination: That is why Novavax is not a real dead vaccine
The Novavax vaccine has been made in Indonesia and the Philippines already received approval. Now it is about to be approved in the EU and is expected by many here. But contrary to what is often argued, Novavax is not a dead vaccine. Because a dead vaccine contains killed viruses or components thereof. Examples of this are the Chinese vaccine Sinovac or the not yet approved product Valneva from France.
On the other hand, Novavax is different. This is a so-called recombinant protein vaccine. This contains tiny, artificially produced parts of the spike protein of the Sars-Cov-2 virus. These stimulate the production of antibodies. The Robert Koch Institute points out that the COVID-19 vaccines “do not contain viruses that can replicate”. “In this respect, they can be equated with dead vaccines,” the RKI continues. This applies to both mRNA and vector or recombinant protein vaccines.
So far there are four in the EU corona– Vaccines approved. On Monday, the responsible EMA expert commission will advise on the approval of Novavax. “Novavax’s vaccine could be approved in the near future,” EMA director Emer Cooke said recently during a public meeting in Brussels. The decision could be made on Monday (December 20th). In August, the EU Commission 100 million doses of the Novavax vaccination have already been ordered. Further deliveries are to follow in the coming years, provided that EMA grants approval.
In favor of approval, the fact that the study carried out so far with 30,000 test subjects could demonstrate an effectiveness of 90 percent. This means that Novavax is just as effective as Moderna or Biontech / Pfizer. However, the data refer to the so-called alpha version of the coronavirus. The delta variant is now dominant in Germany, and experts estimate that it could soon be replaced by the Omikron variant.
According to current knowledge, the second vaccination of Novavax should be given three weeks after the first vaccination. In addition, the first data are already available Booster vaccinations with Novavax before. After two corona vaccinations with Biontech, a booster with Novavax was able to increase the antibodies five-fold. However, an mRNA booster was even more effective: With Moderna the antibodies increased by a factor of 8.1, with Moderna by 11.5, as one recently published in the specialist journal The Lancet published study found.
Corona vaccine from Novavax: delivery may take time
The pharmaceutical industry is often accused of greed for money. In fact, there have been pharmaceutical scandals in the past, the best-known probably being that of thalidomide. However, since then there have been strict requirements for the approval of drugs and vaccines – unlike, for example, for homeopathic products, which do not have to prove their effectiveness.
In the case of the new Valneva dead vaccine even the head of the group himself advises against itto wait for his vaccine, as Thomas Lingelbach said in an interview with the mirror said. He is potentially foregoing a lot of money. Lingelbach considers waiting to be “ethically unacceptable”. He was vaccinated with Biontech / Pfizer himself. “Get your vaccinations now”, so the words of the Valneva boss. The same applies to the Novavax vaccine. Because even if the EMA grants approval, it can still take a while for delivery. Yet time is in the face of looming Omicron wave close. Health Minister Karl Lauterbach also agreed Picture TVthat Novavax is a good vaccine. According to studies, Moderna and Biontech are “a lot more effective”.