FDA authorizes Novavax COVID-19 vaccine

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine was approved by the FDA for people 18 and older. The company faced a lot of setbacks over the past few years.

It's a different type of vaccine than the ones already on the market in the US The shot was effective at preventing COVID-19. The trials were done before the omicron variant of the virus took over, so the numbers would likely be lower now.

Experts think that the Novavax vaccine is one of the best bets against the coronaviruses. The US government spent more money on Novavax than any other company. The company didn't bring a vaccine to market. It didn't start testing its vaccine until after Moderna and Pfizer. Manufacturing issues delayed submissions to the FDA after the clinical trial results showed that the shot worked.

The FDA hopes that having an alternative to the vaccine could be used to encourage people to get a vaccine. During a meeting of the agency's independent expert committee, Peter Marks, the FDA's director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, said that having a protein-based alternative may be more comfortable for some people.