https://www.popsci.com/health/novavax-covid-19-vaccine-authorized/?utm_source=Newsletter+Subscribers&utm_campaign=5d8d237844-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2022_07_15_02_39&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_387276506e-5d8d [login to see] 58306#affinity=Health
Novavax’s vaccine, though it arrives more than two years into the pandemic, is expected to boost vaccination rates among Americans wary of mRNA technology. In contrast with Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, Novavax uses a decades-old vaccine method, widely found in protections against other viruses such as influenza and hepatitis B.
The Novavax COVID-19 vaccine is a protein-based shot. It delivers copies of protein fragments of the virus for the immune system to recognize and destroy. Those protein copies are made in insect cells and packaged into nanoparticles that give off the appearance of a virus. Other ingredients, such as the bark of a South American tree, are included in the nanoparticles to serve as red flags—alerting the immune system to a suspicious character in the body.