Vaccine developer Novavax Inc announced on Wednesday that it will start trials on a combined flu and COVID-19 vaccine.
The vaccine trial will comprise of six hundred and forty healthy Australians between the ages of 50 and 70.
Participants must have been previously infected by COVID or have been vaccinated at least 8 weeks prior to the study.
They’ll receive a combination of the company’s COVID vax NVX-CoV2373, and flu shot, NanoFlu, along with a vaccine booster.
Novavax President of Research and Development, Gregory Glenn, said in a statement: “The combination of these two vaccines … may lead to greater efficiencies for the healthcare system and achieve high levels of protection against COVID-19 and influenza with a single regimen,”.
The trial will be conducted at around 12 study sites across Australia, with results expected in the first half of 2022.
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— Turtle_01 (@Turtlex01) September 3, 2021
Meanwhile, Novavax is also seeking FDA approval for its COVID vax, which they report is potentially 90% effective after trials by the CDC (Centres for Disease Control and Prevention).
Unlike Moderna and Pfizer shots, NVX-CoV2373 is not an mRNA vaccine, but a ‘protein subunit’ shot.
This type of vaccine has been used for decades, and uses a purified protein from the virus, inserting it into the body to trigger an immune response.
‘It’s a type of vaccine that we have used for flu, hepatitis, and HPV in the past,‘ Dr Mark McKenzie, regional medical director for ClinSearch, told WDEF in Chattanooga, Tennessee.
‘Hopefully it will be at a lower cost for some countries that don’t have the resources like the United States has.’
Although it’s reportedly more effective than current vaccine options, supplies for the vax have resulted in slower production than expected.
Where is Novavax vaccine? The world is waiting. But Novavax relies on a special ingredient from a tree extract—but it ran into a shortage because of competition with… wait for it ➡️ ROOT BEER 🍺 & SLURPEE.🤦🏻♂️ Yes, you read that right. Can’t make this up. https://t.co/YsJwpJVZy7 pic.twitter.com/DxeoH9NgEJ
— Eric Feigl-Ding (@DrEricDing) September 2, 2021
However, people are still speculative about the vaccines, with 20.3 per cent of Australians hesitant to get the jab according to Melbourne Institute’s COVID-19 Vaccine Hesitancy Tracker.
Experts predict that the COVID vaccination uptake curve will flatten over the coming months.
