Novavax COVID-19 vaccine received WHO Emergency Use Listing in December 2021. The WHO EUL process evaluates the quality of manufacturing along with safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Like all other EUL vaccines, Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is highly effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization due to COVID-19. This vaccine is recommended for people aged 18 and above.
Safety data are currently limited for persons above 65 years of age (due to the small number of participants of this age group in clinical trials). However, the trial data indicate that the vaccine has an acceptable safety profile for this age group, and the WHO recommends the vaccine for use in persons aged 65 years and over.
The Novavax vaccine will be manufactured in two different facilities. In Europe, the vaccine will be manufactured under the tradename Nuvaxovid and it has been approved by the European Medicines Agency; and in India, the vaccine will be manufactured by the Serum Institute of India under the trade name Covovax, and it has been approved by the Drugs Controller General of India. The WHO granted Emergency Use Listing to Nuvaxovid (NVX-CoV2373) vaccine against COVID-19 and Covovax (NVX-CoV2373) vaccine against COVID-19 in December 2021. Both are produced by Novavax.