Atlanta, GA – U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle P. Walensky, M.D., M.P.H., has endorsed the CDC Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ (ACIP) recommendation that Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine be used as another primary series option for adults ages 18 years and older.
Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine, which will be available in the coming weeks, is an important tool in the pandemic and provides a more familiar type of COVID-19 vaccine technology for adults. Having multiple types of vaccines offers more options and flexibility for the public, jurisdictions, and vaccine providers.
Vaccines using protein subunits have been used for more than 30 years in the United States, beginning with the first licensed hepatitis B vaccine. Other protein subunit vaccines used in the United States today include those to protect against influenza and whooping cough (acellular pertussis).
The following is attributable to Dr.?Walensky:
“Today, we have expanded the options available to adults in the U.S. by recommending another safe and effective COVID-19 vaccine. If you have been waiting for a COVID-19 vaccine built on a different technology than those previously available, now is the time to join the millions of Americans who have been vaccinated. With COVID-19 cases on the rise again across parts of the country, vaccination is critical to help protect against the complications of severe COVID-19 disease.”
About the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) works 24/7 to protect America’s health, safety and security. Whether disease starts at home or abroad, is curable or preventable, chronic or acute, or from human activity or deliberate attack, CDC responds to America’s most pressing health threats.
CDC is headquartered in Atlanta and has experts located throughout the United States and the world.
