Novavax is still producing and updating its Covid-19 vaccine. The Gaithersburg-based company debuted its vaccine in July 2022. That was more than two years after several other companies rolled out their shots.
Vaccine History
Workers administered the very first Covid-19 vaccine in December 2020 when a critical care nurse in New York rolled up her sleeve and received the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. That breakthrough moment came after a months-long push to develop a coronavirus vaccine. The Trump administration launched Operation Warp Speed in May, 2020. It was a joint effort by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Defense Department to accelerate the development of a Covid-19 vaccine. The federal government spent billions of dollars awarding contracts to pharmaceutical giants such as Pfizer, Moderna, and AstraZeneca to develop and manufacture a vaccine.
UM School of Medicine Helped With Phase 3 Trial
Novavax also received a government contract to develop a vaccine. The company reached out to the University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) for help.
Researchers at UMSOM announced in January 2020 it would work on the Phase 3 trial of Novavax’s vaccine to determine its safety and efficacy. More than two years later, in July 2022, the Food and Drug Administration issued an emergency use authorization for Novavax’s vaccine. The FDA still has not given final approval to the vaccine which uses a more traditional model than the MRNA vaccines Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech created.
Researcher Shares Her Experience
One of the lead researchers from the Novavax trial, Dr. Karen Kotloff, is a professor of pediatrics. She is the head of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Disease at the School of Medicine. UMSOM is currently working on a number of vaccines to treat diseases such as shigella, malaria, and the flu. However, its work on the Covid-19 vaccine stands out as a monumental achievement.
Kotloff shared some of her experiences with My MCM. She is proud of what UMSOM accomplished in a relatively short amount of time and tackled what was a once in a lifetime event.
Dr. Kotloff says UMSOM researchers looked at whether people could mix and match Novavax with the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech vaccines. They determined it was safe to do.
Search for Shigella Vaccine
Kotloff says she is involved with developing other vaccines including treatment for the potentially deadly disease, shigella. The bacteria have become resistant to most anti-biotics today, and that is a concern. Researchers have tried to develop a shigella vaccine for decades and Kotloff says work at the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health, which is associated with the University of Maryland, is showing great promise. She remains optimistic a vaccine will emerge soon.
Work on Malaria and Flu Vaccines
Researchers also are working on a vaccine for malaria. Kotloff says “we have some interesting work going on with the epidemiology of malaria.”
Scientists also are trying to develop a universal flu vaccine. If perfected, the vaccine would cover a variety of flu strains. Therefore, people would not have to get a flu shot every year.
