Novavax and Medicago: How are their COVID-19 vaccines different from all the others?
CTV
With Health Canada's recent authorization of both the Novavax and Medicago COVID-19 vaccines for adults, experts are calling this 'good news' for Canadians seeking an alternative option to existing vaccines.
“We now have other viable options for someone to be safely vaccinated,” Omar Khan, a professor of biomedical engineering and immunology at the University of Toronto, told CTVNews.ca in a phone interview on Wednesday. “This is fantastic because this can improve our [vaccine] coverage.”
Prior to the green-lighting of the Novavax vaccine on Feb. 17, and Medicago’s authorization on Feb. 24, only mRNA and viral vector-based COVID-19 vaccines had been OK'ed for use in Canada. Both Pfizer-BioNTech Comirnaty and Moderna Spikevax are considered mRNA vaccines, while AstraZeneca Vaxzevria and Janssen are viral vector vaccines.
Both decisions mark a first for Canada. So far, Novavax is the only protein-based COVID-19 vaccine authorized for use in the country, and Medicago is the first plant-based coronavirus vaccine to be approved in Canada.
Having a range of options to choose from becomes especially helpful for Canadians who may be allergic to some of the components commonly found in either of the mRNA or viral vector vaccines, said Matthew Miller, associate professor at McMaster University’s Michael G. DeGroote Institute for Infectious Disease Research based in Hamilton.
