A day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) advisory committee voted unanimously to approve Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, the agency officially endorsed its use in the United States.
Calling Novavax vaccine an important tool in the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic that provides adults with a more familiar type of vaccine technology, CDC Director Rochelle Walensky has supported in a statment the panel’s recommendation.
She emphasized that the expanded available Covid-19 vaccine options offer more flexibility to the people that have been waiting for a safe and effective Covid-19 vaccine built on a different technology than those previously available.
Reiterating that being vaccinated against the virus is still the best option, Walensky stressed that in time of the increased number of Covid-19 cases across parts of the US, vaccination is critical to help protect against the complications of severe COVID-19 disease.
According to CDC data, 67% of Americans are fully vaccinated against Covid-19, and it’s expected that the plant-based alternative to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines Novavax is offering will convince vaccine-hesitant people to get the jab.
The endorsement of the CDC for the two-dose Covid-19 vaccine of Novavax vaccine comes a week after the jab was granted emergency use authorization (EUA) by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Its use is approved for adults ages 18 and older who have not been vaccinated against the virus due to their hesitance or allergy to components of the mRNA vaccines.
The Biden administration has already purchased 3.2 million doses of the Novavax vaccine that were waiting for CDC endorsement to be made available at no cost to states, jurisdictions, federal pharmacy partners, and federally qualified health centers.
President Biden praised the CDC’s and FDA’s decision to authorize the Novavax vaccine, calling it a step in the right direction battle against Covid.
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