CDC recommends Novavax’s Covid shots as mix-and-match first booster to Pfizer or Moderna
- The CDC has recommended a booster of Novavax’s Covid vaccine for adults ages 18 and older.
- People who received Pfizer, Moderna or J&J as their primary series can also receive Novavax as their first booster if they want.
- Novavax’s third shot was developed against the original strain of Covid that first emerged in China in 2019 but it also induces an immune response against omicron BA.5, according to the company.
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Novavax said its booster doses triggered robust antibodies against omicron BA.1, BA.2 and the dominant BA.5 subvariant in studies that observed adults who received the third shot 8 to 11 months after receiving their Novavax primary series.
The booster dose also induced an immune response in participants who received Moderna, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson as their primary series, according to the company.
Dr. Filip Dubovsky, Novavax’s chief medical officer, said the company believes its shots will provide durable protection even as the virus continues to evolve.
“We think we have a product that has a broad immune response, so we’re not going to be chasing the virus each time a new a new variant crops up. That needs to be proven but that’s our hypothesis,” Dubovsky said.
