If all goes well, the U.S. could see 110 million doses of the Novavax vaccine in June.
A volunteer is examined by his doctor during a medical screening ahead of receiving the Novavax vaccine at Howard University Medical Center in Washington on Jan. 15.
A volunteer is examined by his doctor during a medical screening ahead of receiving the Novavax vaccine at Howard University Medical Center in Washington on Jan. 15.Credit…Kenny Holston for The New York Times

As recently as December, the vaccine maker Novavax appeared to once again be on the brink of failure. Manufacturing troubles had forced the little-known Maryland company, which in its 34-year history had never brought a vaccine to market, to delay the U.S. clinical trial of its experimental Covid-19 inoculation, jeopardizing its $1.6 billion contract with the federal government. And two Covid-19 vaccines made by its competitors were already shipping around the country, leaving some to wonder whether Novavax would ever catch up.

But the picture has significantly improved. The company announced last week that its vaccine showed robust protection in a large British trial and also worked, although not nearly as well, in a smaller study in South Africa against a contagious new variant.

And the scarcity of the two vaccines authorized in the United States, made by Moderna and Pfizer, seems to have made it easier for Novavax to recruit volunteers in its trial here. That speedy enrollment has put the company on track to have results this spring, with possible government authorization as early as April. If all goes right — and nothing is guaranteed — that would mean an influx of 110 million vaccine doses, enough for 55 million Americans at two doses each, by the end of June.

The potential success of Novavax’s candidate carries global implications. Unlike Pfizer’s and Moderna’s shots, the Novavax vaccine can be stored and shipped at normal refrigeration temperatures. The company is setting up plants around the world to produce up to 2 billion doses per year

With contagious variants circling the globe, more vaccines are desperately needed.

Novavax has signed up more than 20,000 people so far in its late-stage trial in the United States and Mexico, two-thirds of its goal of 30,000 participants. If it keeps enrolling volunteers at the same pace, it will complete recruitment more quickly than the Pfizer and Moderna trials did last year.

If Novavax is successful, the new vaccine could add to a widening portfolio of shots in the United States by late spring. Moderna and Pfizer have deals with the United States to supply 400 million doses, enough to fully vaccinate 200 million people, by the middle of the year, and both companies are in talks to supply an additional 100 million doses each after that.

Johnson & Johnson, which recently reported that its one-dose vaccine was effective in a large U.S. trial, could receive authorization this month, but may not be able to supply the United States in significant numbers until April. AstraZeneca’s U.S. trial is also underway, and that company has a deal to supply Americans with 300 million doses of its two-shot vaccine.

But any number of obstacles could trip up Novavax’s progress. As other vaccines become more widely available, participants in Novavax’s trial could drop out of the trial. Even though its results in Britain were promising, the U.S. study could yield different results. Or the company could fail to prove to regulators that it can reliably manufacture its vaccine on a large scale. Given the likelihood that the United States may soon have three authorized vaccines available to the public, the company is under pressure to move quickly, or risk losing ground to competitors.

— Katie Thomas The New York Times
Me: So the vaccine is not about curing people of Covid, but to make money off people who use it and if they are not quick about production ” they could risk losing ground to competitors” what I have been saying all along about vaccines = Covid = MONEY and Politics.
The Salt Water Man