On Monday 20 December 2021, the European Commission approved the COVID-19 vaccine Nuvaxovid, developed by Novavax, for use in the European Union (EU).
The Commission has granted a conditional marketing authorisation (CMA) for the Nuvaxovid vaccine, making it the fifth COVID-19 vaccine authorised in the EU.
This authorisation follows a positive scientific recommendation based on a thorough assessment of the safety, effectiveness and quality of the vaccine by the European Medicines Agency (EMA) and is endorsed by the EU Member States.
The President of the European Commission, Ursula von der Leyen, commented on Monday: “At a time where the Omicron variant is rapidly spreading, and where we need to step up vaccination and the administration of boosters, I am particularly pleased with today's authorisation of the Novavax vaccine. This is the fifth safe and effective vaccine of our vaccine portfolio, offering welcome additional protection to the European citizen against the pandemic. May this authorisation offer a strong encouragement to everyone who has not yet been vaccinated or boosted, that now is the time to do so”.
Stella Kyriakides, Commissioner for Health and Food Safety, added: “Today we add a fifth vaccine to our portfolio of safe and effective vaccines. This is our first protein-based vaccine, which shows promising results against COVID-19. Vaccination and boosting to increase protection against COVID19 is today more important than ever if we are to stem the wave of infections and counter the emergence and spread of new variants. Today we are offering yet another safe and effective vaccine to our citizens, alongside a renewed call to vaccinate, vaccinate, vaccinate!”
The Commission signed a contract with Novavax on 4 August 2021. With the CMA, Novavax will be able to deliver up to 100 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine to the EU starting in the first quarter of 2022. The contract allows Member States to purchase an additional 100 million doses over the course of 2022 and 2023. The first doses are expected to arrive in the first months of 2022 and for this first quarter, Member States have ordered around 27 million doses. This will add to the total amount of 2.4 billion of the vaccine by BioNTech-Pfizer, 460 million doses of the vaccine by Moderna, 400 million doses of AstraZeneca as well as 400 million doses of Janssen.
