Vaccine is given in two shots, three weeks apart<\/p>\n<\/h3>\n
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THURSDAY, July 14, 2022 (HealthDay News) — Unvaccinated Americans should soon have a fourth COVID-19 vaccine option.<\/p>\n
On Wednesday, the Novavax offering was the latest to receive emergency use authorization<\/a> from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Advisers to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will meet next week to decide who should be eligible for the shot.<\/p>\n “Authorizing an additional COVID-19 vaccine expands the available vaccine options for the prevention of COVID-19, including the most severe outcomes that can occur such as hospitalization and death,” FDA Commissioner Robert Califf, M.D., said in a statement. “Today’s authorization offers adults in the United States who have not yet received a COVID-19 vaccine another option that meets the FDA’s rigorous standards.”<\/p>\n Right now, the Novavax shot is only authorized as an initial immunization series, so those who have gotten one of the three other COVID-19 vaccines cannot use it as a booster shot, The New York Times<\/em> reported. The company plans to apply for booster authorization soon.<\/p>\n “Today’s FDA emergency use authorization of our COVID-19 vaccine provides the U.S. with access to the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine,” Novavax President and CEO Stanley Erck said in a company statement<\/a>. “This authorization reflects the strength of our COVID-19 vaccine’s efficacy and safety data, and it underscores the critical need to offer another vaccine option for the U.S. population while the pandemic continues.”<\/p>\n Novavax’s vaccine is given in two shots, three weeks apart. The Biden administration plans to buy<\/a> 3.2 million doses, enough for 1.6 million people. <\/p>\n