The vaccine is the first protein-based COVID-19 vaccine to be provisionally approved by the TGA and the Federal Health Minister Greg Hunt revealed on Mar. 2 that the organisation is also “considering” the vaccine to be approved as a heterologous booster for all Australians following a primary course of either Pfizer, Moderna or the AstraZeneca vaccine.
The news of this comes as the Skerritt revealed on Feb. 23 that the TGA is in discussions with Novavax leaders to see if the vaccine can be provisioned as boosters for adults following high uptake of the vaccine since its approval on Feb. 11.
It is advised to be used as a primary vaccine only as studies into using Novavax as a booster shot are still in progress.
Health Minister Greg Hunt said in January he hoped Nuvaxovid would increase the nation’s vaccination rates.
“We know that some people have waited for this vaccine, and … hopefully, this will encourage those people in the last five percent to come forward,” Hunt said.
Discussions On Novavax For Children
Skerrit also revealed on Feb. 23 that the TGA is in discussions with Novavax to see if the vaccine can be provisioned for children.Novavax has announced previously that its vaccine showed 82 percent efficacy against the Delta variant in the 12- to 17-year-old cohort according to new clinical trial data involving 2,200 adolescents across the United States.
“We believe the Novavax vaccine offers a differentiated technology and option for this younger population given its established protein-based technology already used in other vaccines, and the positive responses demonstrated against variants.”
The researchers, with the New York State Department of Health and the University at Albany School of Public Health, examined outcomes among children using three-state databases, including two systems that collect vaccination data. They assessed two outcomes: COVID-19 cases and COVID-19 hospital admissions, regardless of whether the patients were admitted for other reasons.
The results demonstrated that Pfizer’s vaccine dropped from 68 percent in mid-December 2021 to just 12 percent in the last full week in January.
The data also suggested the protection against severe disease plummeted, from 100 percent in mid-December to 48 percent in late January.
“In the Omicron era, the effectiveness against cases of BNT162b2 declined rapidly for children, particularly those 5-11 years,” the study said.
The TGA and ATAGI promised that they will continue to monitor emerging evidence on all COVID-19 vaccines.
Skerrit said that the TGA is also looking into the Australian-made protein vaccine COVAX-19, which has already been approved for use in Iran.