CDC recommends Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine for Adolescents

CDC Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., has signed a decision memo that Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine be used as another primary series option for adolescents ages 12-17.  This recommendation follows FDA’s authorization to authorize the vaccine for this age group under emergency use.  Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, which is available now, is an important tool in the pandemic and provides a more familiar type of COVID-19 vaccine technology for adolescents.  Having multiple types of vaccines offers more options and flexibility for the public, jurisdictions, and vaccine providers.  Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine packages harmless proteins of the COVID-19 virus alongside another ingredient called an adjuvant that helps the immune system respond to the virus in the future. Vaccines, like the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, that use protein subunit technology have been used for more than 30 years in the United States, beginning with the first licensed hepatitis B vaccine. Other protein subunit vaccines used in the United States today include those to protect against influenza and whooping cough (acellular pertussis).