How effective are the approved protein vaccines?
Novavax's protein vaccine against Covid-19 (Nuvaxovid) is approved in Switzerland. Novavax tested its vaccine in a total of more than 40,000 people. In these studies, the vaccine showed a protective effect against Covid-19 infection of 90%. In addition, no severe courses of disease were observed in the vaccinated individuals in the study. However, very few severe cases occurred overall in the study. Therefore, it cannot be reliably assessed how well the vaccine can prevent severe courses of disease.
How well Novavax's vaccine protects against the new Omicron variant is not yet known and is under ongoing investigation. However, the Novavax vaccine is less focused on a specific Covid variant than the mRNA vaccines. Therefore, it is thought that it may provide broader protection. Preliminary data shows that Novavax's protein vaccine elicits a high immune response against Omicron. Novavax's protein vaccine is accordingly recommended for booster vaccination in Switzerland.