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Novavax COVID-19 vaccine rollout in Georgia could breach the divide with the unvaccinated

FILE - A vial of the Phase 3 Novavax coronavirus vaccine prepared for use in a trial at St. George's University hospital in London on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. On Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, Novavax announced that its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine proved safe and effective in a study of 12- to 17-year-olds. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File) FILE - A vial of the Phase 3 Novavax coronavirus vaccine prepared for use in a trial at St. George's University hospital in London on Wednesday, Oct. 7, 2020. On Thursday, Feb. 10, 2022, Novavax announced that its protein-based COVID-19 vaccine proved safe and effective in a study of 12- to 17-year-olds. (AP Photo/Alastair Grant, File)

By Sofi Gratas / Georgia Public Broadcasting August 14, 2022 3 min read

Last month, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Food and Drug Administration endorsed the new COVID-19 vaccine, Novavax. Health care providers hope to reach the roughly 20% of people in the U.S. who have not been vaccinated against the virus at all.

Novovax is a more traditional, protein-based vaccine that does not rely on messenger ribonucleic acid technology. The Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna COVID-19 vaccines are messenger ribonucleic acid vaccines, according to the CDC. According to spokespeople from the Georgia Department of Public Health, 5,700 Novavax doses will be distributed across the state’s 18 public health districts in the coming week.

The Coastal Public Health district covers Savannah and surrounding counties and is already alerting the public about Novavax availability.

Coastal Health Director Lawton Davis said Novavax might help address vaccine hesitancy because it relies on the same methods used to treat diseases like tetanus and HPV.