New "dead vaccine" Novavax: side effects, boosters, Omikron - that's what Stiko and a top immunologist say

Created: 12/29/2021, 05:55 AM

From: Martina Lippl

Corona vaccine from US manufacturer Novavax (NVX-CoV2373) has been approved in the EU.

© Frank Hoermann / imago

The Novavax vaccine is now on the market.

The vaccine is a completely different type of vaccine.

This is what Stiko boss Mertens and immunologists say about Nuvaxoid.

Berlin - The Covid vaccine Nuvaxoid from the US manufacturer Novavax is now approved in the EU.

And: The EU has already signed a purchase agreement for 100 million doses of the new vaccine for this year and next.

Will the new Novavax vaccine also work against Omikron?

Immunologists are confident about the booster too.

However, homas Mertens, head of the Standing Vaccination Commission, is a suspect.

Novavax vaccine alternative to mRNA vaccines

Novavax is an alternative to Biontech, Moderna, Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

Because the Novavax vaccine is neither an mRNA vaccine like the preparations from Biontech and Moderna, nor a vector vaccine like those from Astrazeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

The procedure for the Novavax vaccine has been used in vaccines against hepatitis B and whooping cough for decades.

First protein vaccine against Corona from Novavax

Novavax's Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2373) is a protein-based vaccine that contains an antigen from the coronavirus.

The protein antigen can neither replicate nor cause Covid-19, the pharmaceutical company announced.

The virus protein is genetically engineered.

It does not contain any killed virus components that are obtained directly from the coronavirus.

That is why the vaccine is actually not one of the so-called dead vaccines, such as the Covid vaccine Valneva.

This is how the Novavax vaccine works against Corona

After Nuvaxovid is vaccinated, the immune system makes antibodies against the protein and can thus fight off Covid-19 disease.

Two doses must be vaccinated three weeks (21 days) apart.

Advantage of the Novavax vaccine: The vaccine can be stored at 2 to 8 degrees Celsius.

According to the group, the Covid vaccine is packaged ready-to-use as a liquid formulation in a vial with ten doses.

The side effects of NVX-CoV2373 are said to be quite mild.

Stiko boss Mertens: "We don't know that much about the new vaccine yet"

The Novavax vaccine is brand new.

The chairman of the Standing Vaccination Commission (Stiko), Thomas Mertens, is putting a brake on expectations of the first protein vaccine.

Basically everyone - especially people at risk - should get vaccinated as quickly as possible and not wait, said the Stiko chairman in an interview with the

"If someone cannot tolerate the vaccines currently available, then the new protein vaccine is an option," says Mertens.

And further: "One should also bear in mind that we do not yet know as much about the new vaccine from Novavax, which also contains an immune booster, a so-called adjuvant, as we do about the vaccines that have been in widespread use for a long time."

Novovax suitable as a booster?

Novavax is also suitable for booster vaccinations.

"Everything that is known so far indicates that Novavax is probably a very good vaccine," said the Secretary General of the German Society for Immunology, Carsten Watzl, of the

 "According to a British study, Novavax is not quite as effective as the mRNA vaccines for booster vaccines, but it is significantly better than vector vaccines," said the Dortmund immunology professor.

This distinguishes the Novavax vaccine from the dead vaccine approval candidate Valneva.

"With booster vaccinations you saw that mRNA vaccines improved antibody protection twenty to thirty times, Valneva only twofold," Watzl told the newspaper.

Does the protein vaccine Novovax work against Omikron?

The Novavax preparation must now also be adapted to the Omikron variant and its modified spike protein, said Watzl.

"The development of a new cell line will be a little more complex for the manufacturer than it will be for the producers of the mRNA vaccines to convert their starting product."

In general, according to the immunologist, the Novavax vaccine has almost the same potential as the vaccines from the manufacturers Biontech and Pfizer or Moderna: “In the American approval studies, Novavax has shown 90 percent protection against the alpha variant and thus comes very close to the mRNA - Vaccines are coming, "said Watzl.