Novavax vaccine against COVID-19 is 90% effective

Maryland. A new COVID-19 vaccine is approaching the finish line, after Novavax reported on Thursday that its product prevented hospitalizations and deaths during studies in the UK and South Africa, where coronavirus mutations are circulating.

In a study of 15,000 people in the UK, Novavax inoculation was 90% effective against mild, moderate and severe cases of COVID-19, the company reported.

Of the 106 confirmed diseases, 10 were in people who received the vaccine and 96 in participants who received a placebo.

Only five of the cases were severe, all in the placebo group. Four of them were caused by a more contagious variant discovered in Great Britain.

Novavax determined that the vaccine was 96% effective against symptomatic diseases caused by the parent virus and 86% effective against mutation.

In South Africa, an even more worrying trend is spreading rapidly. Novavax has studied nearly 3,000 people in the country, some of whom have HIV. The company noted that the vaccine was 55% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 among non-HIV volunteers. As in the UK, the only serious cases occurred among participants who received placebo.

“The big picture is that our vaccine works against variants,” said Novavax CEO. Stanley Erck.

Erck added that he intends to apply to the UK medical authorities at the beginning of the second quarter for approval of the widespread use of the vaccine. The company is also awaiting the results of a study of 30,000 people in the United States.