Novavax and Medicago: How are their COVID-19 vaccines different from all the others? – CTV
March 1, 2022
With Health Canada’s recent authorization of both the Novavax Nuvaxovid and Medicago Covifenz COVID-19 vaccines for adults, experts are calling this “good news” for Canadians seeking an alternative option to mRNA and viral vector vaccines.
“We now have other viable options for someone to be safely vaccinated,” Omar Khan, a professor of biomedical engineering and immunology at the University of Toronto, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Wednesday. “This is fantastic because this can improve our [vaccine] coverage.”
Prior to the green-lighting of the Novavax vaccine on Feb. 17, and Medicago’s authorization on Feb. 24, only mRNA and viral vector-based COVID-19 vaccines had been OK’ed for use in Canada. Both Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty and Moderna Spikevax are considered mRNA vaccines, while AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Janssen are viral vector vaccines.
