Health Canada has announced the approval of another vaccine for use in the fight against COVID-19.
Nuvaxovid by Novavax is the fifth vaccine authorized for the prevention of COVID-19 in Canada and the first protein-based vaccine.
According to a press release Thursday, the vaccine has been determined to meet Canada’s stringent safety, efficacy and quality requirements and can soon be administered in adults 18 years of age and older in two doses, 21 days apart.
According to the vaccine’s clinical trials, Nuvaxovid is 90% effective in preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% effective at preventing severe disease.
So what are the differences between vaccines?
Live-attenuated vaccines use a weakened or inactivated virus or a part of a virus to trigger an immune response inside our body. These have been used to treat smallpox, measles and yellow fever.
mRNA vaccines, such as Pfizer and Moderna, use mRNA created in a laboratory to teach our cells how to make a protein that then triggers an immune response inside our body. That immune response produces antibodies and protects us from getting infected if the virus enters our bodies.
Protein subunit vaccines contain harmless and purified pieces (proteins) of the virus, which have been specifically selected for their ability to trigger immunity. They have been used to prevent other diseases such hepatitis B.
Health Canada has published a number of documents that can provide more information on the vaccine as well as the evidence it reviewed and approval decision.
According to Health Canada, more information will become available in the coming weeks.
