US health regulators have given final approval to Novavax’s Covid vaccine after an unusual delay and have placed new restrictions on the jab, the pharmaceutical company announced Monday.
The company had asked the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to give a definitive green light to its vaccine Nuvaxovid, which was already allowed in the United States under an emergency authorization for people 12 and older.
The Novavax jab does not use mRNA technology like the vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, which have had full approval since 2022.
The FDA had planned to make a decision on Nuvaxovid approval by April 1 but missed the deadline, renewing concerns in the medical community over the dramatic regulatory overhauls under President Donald Trump and his health secretary, noted vaccine skeptic Robert F Kennedy Jr.
New restrictions placed on Nuvaxovid as part of its approval have similarly raised eyebrows.
The drug has been approved for use in only two categories of patients: people aged 65 years and up, and those aged 12 to 64 who have at least one underlying health condition that puts them at high risk from Covid, such as obesity or asthma.
Kennedy has repeatedly promoted falsehoods about vaccines, particularly those given to children.
His vaccine skepticism has come under renewed scrutiny amid the large measles outbreak in recent months.
Kennedy has also named vaccine skeptics to key posts in US health regulatory bodies.
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