US Novavax COVID-19 Vaccine 90 Percent Effective: Trials

U.S. Novavax COVID-19 vaccine reached 96 percent effectiveness at preventing the ZARS- CoV-2 virus and 86 percent effective against the UK variant, the Maryland-based company reported on Thursday.

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According to the late-stage trial results, Novavax was 90 percent effective overall, including the original virus and the mutation. Also, the company announced via Twitter that the U.K. purchased 60 million doses.

The results could speed the regulatory authorization in several countries, although it is not approved in the U.S. yet. However, more data from a trial with 30 000 individuals from Mexico and the U.S. is expected in April.

The vaccine's 100 effectiveness against severe disease in both variants is one of the key findings. Nonetheless, results from the trials in South Africa, where another variant caused many infections, indicating that the vaccine was 55 percent effective against COVID-19 patients who were not infected with HIV.