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The vaccine, Nuvaxovid, is apparently close to approval by the EU Medicines Agency (EMA). The World Health Organization has already approved the vaccine, called NVX-CoV2373 COVID-19, for emergency use.
According to studies, the vaccines from Moderna and Biontech, which have already been administered millions of times, are “quite a bit safer.”
How does Nuvaxovid, the vaccine from Novavax, work?
According to the Paul Ehrlich Institute (PEI), Nuvaxovid consists of virus-like particles that contain the coronavirus spike protein. The proteins are recognized by the body as foreign and the immune system is ramped up – specific antibodies and T cells are produced. This provides better protection against a real infection. mRNA preparations, for example, work differently. Here, snippets of genetic material are used to stimulate body cells to produce the spike protein themselves in order to trigger an immune response.
How well does Novavax’s new vaccine work?
In a pivotal study by Novavax, the efficacy in terms of disease was 90 percent. That means there was 90 percent less disease among subjects in the vaccinated group than among subjects in a control group. Two doses were administered three weeks apart.
However, the results mainly refer to the alpha variant, which has been almost completely replaced by delta. Soon, experts say, the new variant Omicron is likely to have a major impact on the incidence of infection. “This vaccine will also have to be adapted to Omicron,” Carsten Watzl, secretary general of the German Society for Immunology, recently wrote on Twitter, referring to the Novavax drug.
Why do some people wait for certain vaccines?
Some seem to have a greater confidence in vaccines produced by classical methods. For example, there is a distrust among some of the new mRNA technology on which Moderna and Biontech/Pfizer vaccines are based. There are fears that these could cause as yet unknown long-term damage.
What is behind the term “dead vaccine”?
According to the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research, dead vaccines contain killed pathogens, i.e. pathogens that are no longer capable of reproducing. They can also contain only components or individual molecules of these pathogens. Examples are vaccines against hepatitis A and influenza. The body is unable to distinguish the dead vaccine from the pathogen and ramps up a targeted immune defense that protects against a real infection. For some people who have so far rejected vaccination, this approach sounds more “natural” than that of mRNA vaccines, for example.
Is the class of dead vaccines clearly defined?
No. The term is not used consistently. If the definition is that the real virus or at least parts of it must be contained in the vaccine, Novavax, for example, would not be a dead vaccine in the strict sense at all. This is because the crucial ingredient that is supposed to trigger the immune response has not been taken from a real virus, but is a genetically engineered viral protein.
On the other hand, one could also say that all vaccines without living – i.e., reproducible – pathogens are dead vaccines. “The name is wrong,” Watzl says. “All Covid-19 vaccines approved to date are dead vaccines.” What many meant by dead vaccines, he says, are “vaccines based on principles that you use with other vaccines.”
Which vaccines against Covid-19 could still come soon?
Several products are already under review in the EMA’s rolling review process, although not all parts of the marketing authorization application have been submitted yet. For example, the vaccines from manufacturers Sinovac and Valneva (France) contain killed coronavirus.
Is it worth waiting for other vaccines?
“If someone only wants to be vaccinated with one such vaccine, then that is still better than being completely unvaccinated,” says immunologist Watzl. But he thinks waiting for that is unwise – Novavax won’t come until next year, and Valneva won’t come until the second quarter of 2022 at the earliest.
“Anyone waiting for these vaccines will still be unprotected for a long time. Therefore, it’s better to vaccinate now than wait.” Even the head of manufacturer Valneva thinks little of procrastination. “I don’t advise anyone to wait for our vaccine,” Thomas Lingelbach, CEO of the French biotechnology company, told Der Spiegel. “That would be ethically unacceptable.” He currently recommends vaccines from the other manufacturers to relatives and acquaintances and recently had himself boosted with Biontech’s mRNA product.
Are there also live vaccines?
Yes, for example against mumps, measles and rubella. They contain real pathogens that can still reproduce, but whose pathogenic properties have been bred out.
- sources: dpa/express.de/picture:
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