The Gray Bruce Health Unit is pleased to announce that it has received a limited number of doses of the Novavax COVID-19 vaccine, which provides another option for individuals wishing to be vaccinated against the virus. The non-mRNA-based Novavax Nuvaxovid vaccine – approved by Health Canada in February for use in adults 18 years of age and older without contraindications – may be an alternative for people with allergies to mRNA vaccines or for people who cannot or do not want to receive an mRNA vaccine, according to the National Immunization Advisory Committee (NACI). Novavax is the first recombinant COVID-19 protein subunit vaccine approved in Canada. Protein subunit vaccines are already being used to protect people from other diseases, such as hepatitis B. “We are excited to receive our first shipment of Novavax vaccines to the Gray Bruce Health Unit, which will help our goal of enabling as many people as possible to be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible,” says Gray Bruce Health. . Unit physician consultant Dr. Rim Zayed. “This is important because we know that vaccination is the best defense against serious illness and death as a result of COVID-19, especially for people in high-risk populations.” The Gray Bruce Health Unit is now communicating with people who have added their name to a waiting list for Novavax. Others interested in receiving the vaccine are invited to call public health at 519-376-9420. More information about the Novavax Nuvaxovid COVID-19 vaccine is available here. NACI continues to preferably recommend the use of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines for most people because of the excellent protection they provide against serious illness and hospitalization and their well-known safety profiles.
