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Germany Announces Protein-Based Covid Vaccine To Convince Skeptics To Get Their Dose

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Germany announced this week that it will begin offering its citizens a new protein-based Covid-19 vaccine which is said to be comparable to conventional flu vaccines. 

The announcement and development of this vaccine was made in hopes of convincing skeptical populations to get their jabs, but don’t want the novel mRNA technology used in the most commonly distributed vaccines. 

1.4 million doses of the Nuvaxovid vaccine, which were developed by the US biotech company Novavax, will arrive in Germany this week. Karl Lauterbach, Germany’s health minister, confirmed last week that additional doses of the vaccine will be arriving one week after the initial shipment. 

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When compared to all the other types of vaccines being distributed throughout Germany, this recent order brings the nation’s total to 34 million doses throughout 2022.

Novavax’s products have so far only been used in Indonesia and the Philippines, but were permitted for use throughout the EU last December. The company is still waiting on authorization in the US. 

Nuvaxovid is a protein subunit vaccine, unlike the novel mRNA vaccines produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, or viral vector vaccines like the ones made by Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. 

Nuvaxovid contains a non-infectious component on the surface of the Covid virus, which induces a protective immune response when the body’s immune system comes into contact with it. 

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Novavax announced in June last year that its vaccine had “proven more than 90% effective against symptomatic infections with the Alpha variant, in trials that involved about 30,000 volunteers.”

The company also announced that the vaccine is similarly effective against the Delta and Omicron variants, especially if the individual receives a booster dose six months after their second dose. 

Germany’s Paul Ehrlich Institute notes that the “data proving the vaccine’s efficacy against more infectious variants remains limited. There’s a considerable interest in the Novavax jab among the 19.8 million people in the country who have so far declined to take a jab against Covid-19.”

6,000 individuals are currently on a waiting list to receive the Nuvaxovid vaccine in early February.

Lars Korn, a co-author of a current survey of anti-vaccine attitudes conducted by the University of Erfurt, told the public broadcaster ZDF that “two-thirds of respondents would continue to completely reject any form of vaccination.” Only time will tell if the distribution of this new vaccine will lead to a more vaccinated population.

Novavax Covid-19 Vaccine Is Beginning Its Phase 3 Trial In The US

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Vaccine maker Novavax and federal health researchers in the United States announced this Monday that they will begin a Phase 3 trial for the Novavax Covid-19 vaccine. This marks the fifth vaccine against the coronavirus that has reached this phase in the US. 

“We’ve come this far, this fast, but we need to get to the finish line. That will require multiple vaccines using different approaches to ensure everyone is protected safely and effectively from this deadly disease.”

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, recently released a statement regarding the vaccine, claiming that Novavax plans to enroll around 30,000 individuals across 115 trial sites in the US and Mexico. The vaccine is specifically known as NVX-CoV2373, and it will also be entering a Phase 3 trial in the united Kingdom as well. 

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Much like Pfizer and Moderna’s Covid-19 vaccine’s, Novavax is a two-dose regime that is designed to boost the body’s immune system and help it recognize the coronavirus should it enter into the body. The vaccine manufactures its own antigens which mimics the virus’ distinct spike protein. The antigen itself can’t “replicate or cause Covid-19,” either. 

Novavax announced the promising data that the initial phases of the trial showed proves that the vaccine is safe and effective, and has so far only produced mild reactions that are typical to other vaccines as well. If the vaccine proves to be effective in the Phase 3 trials, it’ll be much easier to distribute than Pfizer and Moderna’s due to the fact that those vaccines must be kept at ultra-cold freezer temperatures, while the Novavax vaccine can be stored at refrigerated temperatures. 

Johnson&Johnson and AstraZeneca are the other two companies that have vaccines currently in their own Phase 3 trials currently as well. Trials for these companies are also occurring on an international level to ensure full security in terms of the vaccine’s safeness. 

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Novavax should also be one of the companies receiving an infusion of funds from Operation Warp Speed, a program created by the Trump administration to help increase vaccine development. However, now that Pfizer and Moderna have already begun distributing their vaccines to healthcare workers and other vulnerable groups in America, there may be less funding available. 

Dr. Gregory Glenn, the firm’s president of research and development, recently published a news release addressed to Americans who may be hesitant to sign up for the Phase 3 trial for the Novavax vaccine, expressing the importance of the research that they’re doing every day. 

“We recognize that volunteers considering our trial may have questions about the potential impact on their ability to receive an authorized vaccine when it becomes available to them. We wish to reassure participants that we are working to ensure that their involvement in our trial does not negatively impact their ability to be vaccinated at the appropriate time,” he stated, continuing on that volunteers who are worried about receiving the placebo shot in the trial should also understand how important that data is as well. 

The United Kingdom just wrapped up all the enrollments for their Phase 3 trial of the Novavax vaccine, and the US and Mexico should hopefully be following suit in the new year. In the meantime, continue to listen to your healthcare professionals and follow all the necessary protocols still in place to keep us all safe and healthy.