Novavax’s candidate vaccine is almost 90 percent effective against COVID-19 – but just under 50 percent effective against the new South African variant of the virus, the company announced on Thursday.
A UK study found that the Novavax vaccine was 89.3 percent effective in protecting test participants from developing the symptoms of COVID-19, the company said in a press release.
The good results came despite the new highly transmissible coronavirus variant that now circulates in the UK.
“These are spectacular results and we are delighted to have helped Novavax in the development of this vaccine,” said Stanley C. Erck, who runs the Maryland-based company.
“The demonstrated effectiveness against emerging variants is also extremely encouraging.
But more preliminary results from a small separate study in South Africa – where a different coronavirus mutation is wreaking havoc – showed that Novavax injection was only 49.4 percent effective, meaning that just over half of the guinea pigs received the injection and still got sick.
The Moderna and Pfizer vaccines in use were found to be more than 90 percent effective against COVID-19.
As of Thursday, New York has 22 cases of the UK’s new coronavirus strain. The first two cases of the South African strain in the United States have been found only in South Carolina, officials announced on Thursday.
Modern said he is developing a booster vaccine to combat the strain first identified in South Africa.