Topline The Food and Drug Administration approved Novavax’s new COVID-19 vaccine Friday, a week after giving Pfizer and Moderna the OK on their shots, though all drugmakers say their shots will be available within the coming days ahead of the fall and winter respiratory virus surge. An illustration picture shows vials with Covid-19 Vaccine stickers attached and syringes with the ..
. [+] logo of US biotech company Novavax. Key Facts Novavax’s vaccine targets the JN.
1 COVID-19 variant, which was the dominant strain circulating in the U.S. earlier this year but now makes up less than 1% of cases.
Both Pfizer and Moderna’s shots target the KP.2 COVID-19 variant—JN.1 is the parent variant of KP.
2. The FDA in June asked vaccine makers to create shots that target the coronavirus’ JN.1 variant, but later changed this recommendation to advise manufacturers to focus on the KP.
2 strain of the JN line after reviewing updated case data; Novavax said production for JN.1-specific shots was already underway and would be able to create KP.2 shots.
Novavax told Forbes its vaccines will be available in “thousands of locations” as soon as the FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research releases the vaccine batches. Moderna told Forbes it expects its vaccine to be available “within the coming days,” while Pfizer said its vaccine "will begin shipping immediately and be available in pharmacies, hospitals, and clinics across the U.S.
beginning in the coming days.” The FD.