An FDA committee of 21 independent advisers with one absentee unanimously voted to authorize the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use in adults June 7, The Washington Post reported.
While the timeline for full approval is unclear, the FDA will likely weigh the panel's approval against the potential heart risks and pre-omicron variant clinical results for emergency use authorization. Novavax found a 90 percent efficacy rate in preventing COVID-19-related illness and 100 percent efficacy in preventing severe illness in its most recent phase 3 trial, according to HHS.
COVID-19 vaccination rates among adults hover around 75 percent nationally, leaving 27 million adults who aren't vaccinated, according to the CDC.
In regard to public response, the potential approval could go either way, according to the Post. Those wary of messenger RNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, could leap to vaccination sites for the Novavax double shot that isn't mRNA. Or, the newer vaccine won't be as enticing as treatments that are long-established, according to the Post.