Lucio Miele, M.D., Ph.D.
The FDA advisory committee is recommending that the FDA give full approval to another COVID vaccine. LSU Health New Orleans Chair of Genetics Doctor Lucio Miele said the Novavax offering is similar to the more traditional vaccines we are used to, like flu and hepatitis.
“For anyone who had been concerned about vaccines, including RNA, this should put their minds at ease. This is a traditional technology that has been used for decades,” said Miele.
Miele said while the Moderna and Pfizer vaccines use RNA extractions so your own body will make the protein, the Novavax vaccine consists of two shots that deliver a small amount of the COVID spike protein so your immune system will respond and build antibodies.
“And this vaccine is just a coronavirus spike protein, produced in a test tube and purified,” said Miele.
Miele said it’s best to have as many different vaccines as possible that use different technologies to combat a virus, which he said is here to stay.
“It’s going to be a very useful tool, to lessening its impact so that as few as possible people are sickened or killed by it,” said Miele.
At this time FDA is considering two adult doses of the Novavax COVID vaccine. Studies show Novavax is 90% effective at preventing symptomatic COVID.
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