Posted on 03/30/2021 6:44:36 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The UK Government has agreed a deal with pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) on the manufacture of up to 60 million doses of the Novavax coronavirus vaccine.
The vaccine has one big advantage over the others currently being used.
While the jabs from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna need to be kept at ultra-low temperatures, the Novavax jab is stable for up to three months in a normal fridge.
However, the it has not yet been approved by the MHRA (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency).
While trials did not study the effectiveness of the vaccine when separating the doses between the jab for more than three weeks, experts are confident it would still be effective if the second dose was delayed by up to 12 weeks – as the UK authorities decided would be the case with the Pfizer and AstraZeneca vaccines.
And Prime Minister Boris Johnson said yesterday the Novavax vaccine is already being made in the UK.
Here is what else we know the about the Novavax vaccine.
How does the vaccine work?
The Novavax vaccine works like other vaccines by teaching the immune system to make antibodies to the coronavirus spike protein.
Researchers inserted a modified gene into a virus, called a baculovirus, and allowed it to infect insect cells.
Spike proteins from these cells were then assembled into nanoparticles which, while they look like coronavirus, cannot replicate or cause Covid-19.
These nanoparticles are then injected into the body via the vaccine, where the immune system mounts an antibody response.
If the body encounters coronavirus in the future, the body is primed to fend it off.
The vaccine is given as two doses.
How effective is the vaccine?
According to results of a phase three trial in the UK, announced in March, the jab offers 100% protection against severe disease, including all hospital admission and death.
It is 86% effective against the Kent variant, the company behind it said, and it is also 96% effective in preventing cases caused by the original strain of the coronavirus.
The study in the UK enrolled more than 15,000 participants aged between 18 and 84, including 27% over the age of 65.
In participants aged 65 and older, 10 cases of Covid-19 were observed, with 90% of those cases occurring in the placebo group.
Results released in January by Novavax regarding its South Africa trial also showed 60% protection against mild, moderate or severe disease, where most cases were the South African variant of the virus.
Where is it made?
The protein antigen component of the vaccine is produced in the north east of England by Novavax manufacturing partner Fujifilm Diosynth Biotechnologies, at its site in Billingham, Stockton-on-Tees.
GSK announced on Monday that it will provide “fill and finish” manufacturing capacity – preparing vials of the final vaccine and packaging them for distribution and use – at its Barnard Castle facility, also in the North East, beginning as early as May.
It said the “rapid technology transfer” between the two companies will begin immediately.
Has the Novavax vaccine been approved?
Not yet. A rolling review is under way by the (Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency) MHRA to assess the vaccine.
“It’s not just a jab...it’s an adventure.”
Now they’ve added an insect virus to a monkey virus. The Galactic Federation wants to morph humanity into a variety of hybrid species.
So effing sick of the term “jab”.
RE: So effing sick of the term “jab”.
Tell that to the Brits, it’s their term for vaccine.
The Pfizer product and Moderna are both approved for normal
refrigerator temperatures now.
Moderna was always a normal refrigerated medication.
It has been a real improvement.
This article seem to come at this from a flawed perspective.
Brits are hopeless.
“Shot” seems to be only used in the USA. The rest of the world uses “jab.” Frankly, I’d rather be jabbed than shot.
It’s the Brit’s term for getting an injection.
“Now they’ve added an insect virus to a monkey virus. The Galactic Federation wants to morph humanity into a variety of hybrid species.”
I want to be a wolverine.
bzz bz bzzzz bz bzz
Ha, me too. Also the "J&J" said like it's the latest designer release of a phone/sneakers/etc.
They sure like that word jab. Mix it up a bit!
So effing sick of the term “jab”.
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Me too. We’re Americans... WE GET A “SHOT”, NOT A “JAB”.
Most of the world speaks English not American if you are a world traveler you know the two languages are no where near the same. As Churchill once said two counties separated by a common language. English english is so different Rosetta Stone separates English into English and American English. When I first came to University I was forced to take English comp 1301 my first paper was given D marks and I protested. The prof said to write the paper in proper English so I did. He did not specify the dribble Americans speak and scrawl about the parchment. I went to the Dean and was rescored as an A and then was told specify to butcher the English language. Cheers
“English english is so different Rosetta Stone separates English into English and American English.”
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That’s for sure. A few years back I was talking to a Swedish girl (new to the States) and told her my dog’s name was ‘Spunky’ and that got a big laugh from her. It turned out that the word spunky can have VERY different meaning between British and American English. I’ll say no more. ;-)
Written Nov. 30,2020 Link
Even here in the UK the older generation tend to wince at ‘jab’, which somehow seems to infantilise the recipient. It’s a usage which has crept in only over the last three decades or so. Over a certain age, you still speak primly of ‘injections’.
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