Doses of the newly approved Novavax vaccine against COVID-19 will become available to local residents this week, with Los Angeles County scheduled to start administering the medication on Wednesday.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for the vaccine July 13 after it was found to be 90% effective against mild, moderate and severe disease in the company’s Phase 3 clinical trial involving 30,000 participants ages 18 and older.
Unlike the Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna vaccines, the protein-based Novavax vaccine was developed without the use of mRNA technology.
Residents 18 years and older can get the Novavax vaccine, which is a two-dose primary series, with the second dose administered three weeks after the first. Boosters are not recommended and the Novavax vaccine is not authorized for children 17 and younger.
Beginning Wednesday, Aug. 3, Los Angeles County residents will be able to receive the vaccine at any county Department of Public Health vaccination location. Residents can also contact their provider to see if their provider is offering Novavax.
The availability of the new vaccine comes as the region slowly emerges from a surge of infections that almost prompted a new indoor mask-wearing mandate in the county. With case and hospitalization rates steadily dropping, the county announced last week it would defer imposing the mandate.
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