JAKARTA — Novavax, a biotechnology company, announced Monday that Indonesia granted the first emergency authorization in the world for its COVID-19 vaccine. This vaccine uses a different technology to current shots.
It is much easier to transport and store the vaccine than other shots. This could make it useful in helping to boost supplies in countries with lower incomes around the globe.
Novavax, a two-dose vaccine, is manufactured with lab-grown versions of the spike protein that coats coronavirus. This is very different from mRNA vaccines like Moderna and Pfizer, which provide genetic instructions to the body for making its own spike proteins.
According to Dicky Budiman, an Indonesian epidemiologist, the emergency authorization of vaccines is “very important” for Indonesia’s COVID-19 vaccine program.
He said, “This vaccine will make it much easier to transport and store in an area like Indonesia, which has many islands.”
Budiman stated that if the vaccination is widely distributed successfully, it may be approved and used in other countries.
Many countries including Indonesia still need more vaccines.
Novavax, a U.S. company, announced that the vaccine had been nearly 90% effective against COVID-19 symptoms in a study of almost 30,000 people in Mexico and the U.S. It was also effective against variants that were circulating in these countries at the time, Novavax stated.
According to the company, side effects include tenderness at injection sites, headaches, aches and painfuls, and fatigue.
It addressed concerns in October that the production of the vaccine was slowing down due to a shortage of raw materials. The company stated it would “achieve a capability of 150 million doses each month by the end of fourth quarter” through partnerships, including with Serum Institute of India and SK Bioscience in South Korea, Takeda in Japan and Serum Institute of India.
Novavax stated that it has filed for approval of the vaccine in Canada, Australia and India.
The deadly COVID-19 epidemic that swept Indonesia from June to August was fueled by post-holiday travel and the delta variant. Since mid October, the number of cases has dropped to an average of less than 1000 per day.
According to the Ministry of Health, 36% of Indonesians have had two doses of vaccines and 58% have only received one.
In Indonesia, the virus has claimed the lives of more than 143,400 people. Due to low testing and tracing, the actual number may be lower than originally thought.
