Novavax says its COVID-19 vaccine is 90% effective

Novavax, a Maryland-based biotech company, announced Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine is 90.4% effective at preventing people from getting sick and 100% effective at preventing moderate or severe disease, hopefully laying the groundwork for a fourth vaccine in the fight against the coronavirus.

Nearly 30,000 participants across 119 sites in the U.S. and Mexico took part in the Phase 3 study, which evaluated “efficacy, safety and immunogenicity, with an emphasis on recruiting a representative population of communities and demographic groups most impacted by the disease.”

Of those who got the two-shot inoculation, only 77 people tested positive for COVID-19, and all cases were “mild.” No hospitalizations or deaths were reported.

Among high-risk populations — those over age 65, under age 65 with certain comorbidities or having life circumstances with frequent COVID-19 exposure — the Novavax vaccine was 91% effective, the company said.

“Today, Novavax is one step closer to addressing the critical and persistent global public health need for additional COVID-19 vaccines,” Novavax President and CEO Stanley Erck said in a statement.

“Novavax continues to work with a sense of urgency to complete our regulatory submissions and deliver this vaccine, built on a well understood and proven platform, to a world that is still in great need of vaccines.”

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